This campaign—and the ethos behind it—is similar to the Breakfast After the Bell program. Many children who are eligible (based on their parents’ income) for free breakfast at school miss their opportunity. This is because most schools serve breakfast before school even begins in the morning. The Breakfast After the Bell program aims to reach 100% participation of eligible students by postponing breakfast until children are actually at school. Serving breakfast during the first few minutes of class ensures that children eat. This is important because hungry children, just like sick children, cannot learn.

Similar to the Breakfast After the Bell program, where public school meets the needs of vulnerable children, the campaign to put a nurse in every public school will have a huge impact on health equity. Although it is ideal that every child has a regular pediatrician and routine checkups, this is not always the case. Many individuals in underserved communities do not have access to healthcare. Making nurses available in all public schools will reduce this health disparity.

School nurses are important to students’ wellbeing. They screen for lice, scoliosis, hearing and eyesight deficits, behavioral problems, parent/guardian abuse and neglect, overweight/obesity and malnourishment, and growth and development lags, among other problems. With access to the students’ health information, school nurses can identify students who are not up to date on immunizations. School nurses also have the opportunity to teach students and their families about health promotion, the importance of hand washing and immunizations, and community resources among other topics.

This program is commendable. If successful, it would satisfy an important need—for all children to have access to healthcare. The program’s focus on public schools is important because those schools are more likely to have children from areas where healthcare is not readily accessible. If healthcare is a basic right, then it is as important as education to every child in the United States.

It is so important that students have access to a licensed healthcare provider within their building. School nurses “advance the well-being, academic success, and lifelong achievement and health of students” (www.nasn.org), states the Position Statement of the National Association of School Nurses. They bridge the “gap,” so to speak, between education and healthcare. It is easy to forget that children do not succeed in school because they are feeling ill or they are malnourished. School nurses are able to administer prescribed or over-the-counter medication or assess whether a student has not eaten breakfast.

The importance of school nurses even goes beyond all of that. As this campaign states, school nurses are responsible to report any signs of neglect or abuse, just like registered nurses working in a hospital or doctor’s clinic. It is difficult to notice if a child is being abused at home just by observation in the classroom. While teachers are trained to look out for any suspicions or signs, it is also beneficial to have a second opinion, especially if both teachers and nurses are held accountable by law to report this.

The National Association of School Nurses also states that there are long-term health issues that are directly related to child abuse or neglect (www.nasn.org). Since, as stated above, children spend so much time in school, employees of the public school are bound to be aware of anything that seems “off” about a student. This, in turn, can result in poor grades on tests or the child just not being able to pay attention in class.

I believe that this campaign will help reach the goal of “wellness, health equity, and reduction in healthcare cost.” Parents sometimes may not have the funds to send their child to the doctor every time he or she gets sick, so school nurses are actually beneficial in that way that it is not a burden to their wallet. I hope that this campaign goes far, and I am looking forward to the outcome of it!

References:
https://www.nasn.org/PolicyAdvocacy/PositionPapersandReports/NASNPositionStatementsFullView/tabid/462/ArticleId/87/The-Role-of-the-21st-Century-School-Nurse-Adopted-June-2016
http://www.nasn.org/PolicyAdvocacy/PositionPapersandReports/NASNPositionStatementsFullView/tabid/462/ArticleId/639/Child-Maltreatment-Care-of-Victims-of-The-School-Nurse-s-Role-Adopted-January-2014