School Nurse funding

I met with the Grants Liaison at the office of U.S. Congressman Dale Kildee today to discuss the House bill 2730: Student-to-School Nurse Ratio Improvement Act of 2009. This was an informative meeting where I was able to educate the Congressman's office of our current situation in the school district where I serve; there are two nurses for 9,000 students. Mr. Bennett, the Liaison, was very interested and helpful in advising how bills go through Committees and how they ultimately become tabled or passed. Today, Congress had reconvened from recess specifically to address emergency funding for states to retain teachers and provide support staff. The Liaison did note that while this bill is in its early stages, it will need more support to move through the process. Please take a look at the school districts your children attend; do it have nursing services? Do you have health needs that must be addressed while your child is at school? If you are concerned about the health and safety of our youngsters while they are at school, please notify your Representative in Congress that you ask for support of House Bill 2730, and it's corresponding Senate Bill 2750.

Student-to-School Nurse Ratio Improvement Legislation

Did you know there is a bill introduced by Representative McCarthy of New York that would legislate the improvement of the number of students per school nurse in public elementary and secondary schools? H.R. 2730, the "Student-to-School Nurse Ratio Improvement Act of 2009" has 32 co-sponsors and currently is in committee. This bill would offer grants through the Centers for Disease Control to reduce the numbers of students that school nurses now serve. The recommended ratio of nurse to student in this act is 1:750; this number seems far more manageable than the current number of students I and fellow Michigan nurses currently serve, 1:4274! Michigan is at the bottom of the list in school nurse to student ratios, and this is detrimental for the increasingly complicated health care issues that nurses deal with on a daily basis in the public school system. I am scheduled to meet with the Constituent Liaison for the U.S. Congressman for my district here in Michigan tomorrow; I will be posting more on this subject in the future. In the meantime, please study this bill. H.R.2730. I will post the supporters of this bill in my next entry, and ask that you consider writing or calling your Representative in support of this critical piece of legislation. It may be one answer for continuing to provide life-saving care in the Public Schools in the face of drastic budget cuts.