In October of 1902, Lina Rogers Struther was the first ever nurse to be placed in a school.

It was a one onth e!peri ent in "ew #or$ to see if having a nurse during school hours would be beneficial. It was. %ust in the first &ear, children being absent due to illness was reduced b& a whopping 90 percent. 'ast forward 110 &ears and school nurses are being ta$en out of the school s&ste . (h& is this happening) Our children*s health should still be a top priorit&. +& goal is to anal&,e the necessit& of having or not having school nurses and -ustif& the reasoning behind $eeping the in our schools. . student being unhealth& is directl& related to his/her abilit& to learn. . sic$ child ust sta& ho e as to not spread ger s to other students. (hen a child is at ho e, he/she is issing out on the topic their teacher is providing that da&. +issing one da& here or there a& not see li$e uch but illness can set ta$e awa& a childs inabilit& to learn and too uch absentee fro school can lead to being held bac$ a grade. 0owever, sending the child to school unhealth& 1which happens often2 will spread ger s and infect other children to the sa e illness. . nurse can be good in these t&pes of situation because the& are able to assess a student before allowing the bac$ into a classroo . 3he& are also there to ad inister prescription and over the counter edication to a child that is ill but not too ill to be out of school. +edication ad inistration is a ver& i portant role with school nurses. It is considered a co on health4related activit& at school. .ccording to the article 5+edication .d inistration in the School Setting5, there has been a dra atic increase in the range of edications being used in school and it is a$ing the the ad inistration of these edications ore co ple!. If there is not a school nurse available to ad inister these edications, it can lead to poor educational , social, e otional, and ph&sical outco es. 6epending on the edication the student is issing, it can also lead to behavioral, educational, and acade ic conse7uences for a child with chronic health conditions. 3he role of a school nurse is to support student learning. 3he& are able to do this b& i ple enting strategies that pro ote student and staff health and safet&.0e/She will provide health education to students, staff and parents. 3his could include pa phlets and classes on how to not spread ger s, educating the children on health facts and the reason to eat well, and giving the &earl& chec$ ups on their e&es and ears. She/0e will support the students success b& providing health care through assess ent, intervention, and follow up for all children in a school setting. 3he school nurse will address the ph&scial, ental, e tional and social needs fo students and support their acheive ent in the learning process. She/0e not onl& provides for the safet& and care of the students and the staff but also addresses the need for integrating health

solutions in the eucation setting. On a t&pical da&, the nurse can assess in-ur& and illness, ad inister edication, screen for health factors i pacting student learning, and create activities that will help pro ote health and prevent children and teens fro s o$ing, drin$ing, doing drugs and being se!uall& active withouth protection. 3his generation has had a dra atic increase in chronic conditions such as asth a, anaph&la!is, epileps&, obesit&, and ental health issues. Special health care needs are also increasing. . school nurse is a necessit& in these t&pes of situations ore than others. 3he& are there for the student to help the cope with their conditions, and to help guide the and teach the how to live dail& with those conditions. "urses in schools are prepared for our odern da& illnesses and diseases. 3he& are there when for severe allergic reactions, sei,ures, and outbrea$s of the chic$en po!.

3he previous paragaraphs provide detailed reasoning of wh& it is i portant to have a nurse in ever& school setting. 0owever, it see s as though school nurses are disappearing. Is it lac$ of one& on the schools part) Is it the thought of parents that do not feel it is necessar& to have a nurse at their child*s school. 8eing a other, it is eas& for e to thin$ that an& person could go into the school and be a nurse. +others and 'athers are part nurse when the& are ta$ing care of their sic$ child an&wa&s. 0owever, if there is not a nurse there, who will ad inister &our childs edication) If we give that power to the child, the& a& choose to not ta$e it or ta$e wa& ore than prescribed. .lso, what about the children that are learning to ta$e inhalers because the& -ust found out the& have asth a) Or the child that now has to have a shot ever& ti es he/she eats because the& have been diagnosed with -uvenile diabetes) 9arol +ithers points out that without the aide of a registered nurse, children can not onl& be in-ured but die on school propert& if the& are no properl& ta$en care of. In the beginning of her article, she describes a tragic situation of a student who collapsed to the floor at her school with an asth a attac$. 3he child was $nown there and had a plan that outlined her e ergenc& treat ant and there was a suppl& of her edication all on file at school. .ll of this infor ation had been signed off on b& the school nurse. :nfortunatel&, the school nurse was onl& there a few da&s a wee$ and the da& of this poor girls episode, she was off. 3he health cler$ that was filling in for the nurse had no previous e!perience in the edical field and did not $now how to handle the situation. 3he child went into cardiac arrest and died on scene.

5'ro s$inned $nees to serious allergic reactions, school nurses pla& a critical role in our education s&ste 5, sa&s 9arol +ithers. 0owever, less that half of the public schools in the :S have a full ti e nurse on staff. .s parents, how are we allowing this) 3here is not a shortage of people willing to do the -ob. 3he issues is funding. 6istricts ever&where are under pressue to raise acade ic test scores, and to do so with ever shirin$ing budgets. 3he cuts that are ade in schools are the ones that are not andated b& the law and in ost states do not andate that a nurse be in ever& school. I opt for a change. If we don*t have a law, wh& not de and that there is one) 9hildren are the innocence of this world. 3he& learn how to tal$, wal$, behave, and how to treat people fro the ones around the . (e have to protect the and co fort the and help the when the& are sic$. (e have to teach the to $now what to do in e ergenc& situations. If there is not a school nurse, shouldn*t the principal $now ever& childs chart and be able to handle an e ergenc& situation if necessar&)