Budget cut could injure students

Few people associate school nurses with more than putting bandages on playground cuts and scrapes or taking temperatures. But nurses also perform important roles, such as teaching sex education and screening for diseases like scoliosis.

If a new bill passes in the Ohio state legislature, schools throughout Ohio might have to go without school nurses and the services they provide.

The budget for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families provides four out of five of the Athens County school districts with at least one nurse, but if the cut is approved those nurses could be lost. With a $9 million cut in the $13 million TANF budget, Athens County stands to lose its county-provided nurses and, along with them, valuable educational tools.

Ohio schools have an average of one nurse to 2,600 students, which is perhaps reflective of a national shortage of nurses. In Athens County, Alexander Local School District has one nurse for 1,650 students. This is substantially more than the 1 to 750 ratio recommended by the National Association of School Nurses.

With nurses around the country already working too hard, the legislature should not take such a large amount of money away from TANF and overburden the working nurses. If anything, more funding needs to be offered.

In addition to losing screenings and sex education, the schools also might face the possibility of having medical emergencies without having anyone to assist the students. Particularly in high school, where classes such as chemistry and shoppe can lead to severe injuries, a registered nurse would be able to provide vital on-site emergency care. No matter how much first aid training teachers might have, they cannot replace a trained nurse.

For families with children who lack access to adequate medical care, a school nurse can offer the minimum care by screening for vision and hearing problems. When a doctor isn't available, a nurse has the medical training to distinguish a simple sore throat from something more serious such as strep throat.

School nurses might not have a visibly important role but in the long run they provide a double role - educator and healer. If the state passes the budget cut, the legislators will find out the hard way by putting children's health at risk.