Shortage of School Nurses Means Greater Student Vulnerability to H1N1

By Alison Bulman, AJN senior editorial coordinator

the school bus routine by woodley wonderworks, via Flickr.

On Friday the New York Times reported that a shortage of school nurses is making students more vulnerable to the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus, stating that  ” [m]any districts have few or no nurses to prevent or respond to outbreaks, leaving students more vulnerable to a virus that spreads easily in classrooms and takes a heavier toll on children and young adults.”

The article acknowledges the key role played by school nurse Mary Pappas, who we interviewed for this blog shortly after she’d helped identify the first U.S. cases of H1N1 at a school in Queens. As AJN reported in June, school nurses  have been and will continue to be on the front lines of efforts to prevent or manage outbreaks. But the school nursing shortage is acute, with just one nurse for every 1,155 students nationally, a ratio that the American Federation of Teachers has called “dangerous.” With a new school year underway, the Times reports, school districts are relying more heavily on non–health care personnel to identify and isolate sick kids and monitor absences.

For more on issues related to school nurses and nursing, see these recent posts:

Can School Nurses Help Prevent Heat Stroke Fatalities in High School Football?

Nurse Organizations Oppose Move to Allow Non-Licensed Personnel to Give Insulin to Students


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2016-11-21T13:22:07-05:00September 28th, 2009|Nursing|1 Comment
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Have ‘Mercy’! One Nurse’s Take on the Latest Nurse Drama

MercyScreenshotBy Peggy McDaniel, BSN, RN

As a long-time fan of ER and Grey’s Anatomy, I looked forward to watching the first episode of Mercy, an NBC drama that focuses on three nurses instead of using doctors as the primary characters (click the image to visit the show’s Website, where you can check out the first episode). At the same time, while I’ve often laughed aloud at the tasks doctors are seen doing on Grey’s Anatomy, such as putting patients through a CT scan, it’s the characters that make the show compelling—and as a clinician, I choose to enjoy them and ignore that you rarely see a nurse at the bedside.

ER, unlike Grey’s Anatomy, featured what I would consider “real” nurses doing “real” nursing tasks backed by intelligence, education, and intuition. Maybe it made a difference that it was originally created by Michael Crichton, a doctor who obviously knew something about what happens in a clinical setting. ER skillfully blended clinical action and personal stories of strong, engaging characters. As a clinician, I loved the accuracy and drama.

I have mixed feelings about Mercy. The first episode introduced the characters, who appeared to be at least interesting, if not scintillating. Veronica, the primary character, suffers from PTSD after her return from service in Iraq. While she showed a […]

2016-11-21T13:22:09-05:00September 25th, 2009|career, nursing perspective|2 Comments
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Clearing the Mind: Charles Kaiman, Nurse and Artist

Kaiman's "Self-Portrait," September cover

Charles Kaiman, a clinical nurse specialist in psychiatric mental health nursing at the New Mexico Veterans Affairs facility in Albuquerque, is also an acclaimed artist. This month we feature his work both on our cover and in Art of Nursing. In On the Cover, Kaiman offers thoughts on his painting technique, which he calls “a form of visual meditation,” and describes how it clears the mind.  If you’re in the New York City area in early October, come check out his show at the Blue Mountain Gallery at 530 West 25 Street in Manhattan, October 6 through 31. For more information, visit the artist’s Web site.

Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor

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2016-11-21T13:22:12-05:00September 24th, 2009|Nursing|1 Comment
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Nurse, Angel, Bride: Where’s the Substance in Coverage of Nurses?

By Barbara Glickstein, MPH, MS, RN. Glickstein is an independent broadcast journalist in NYC and a member of AJN‘s editorial board.

I’m a feminist, public health nurse, and journalist. I know how powerful the mass media is, and I keep an eye on how it represents women—as well as on how it represents and reports about nurses and nursing.

Last week was Fashion Week in New York City and the top designers, after-parties, gossip, and trends were analyzed and criticized. Even so, I was pretty surprised last Saturday when I found two separate NY Times articles on Fashion Week referring to nurses. One by Cathy Horyn, “Even Walking Away, They Still Look Good,” had this line describing a dress by a designer: “One of Ms. Scott’s signature headmistress dresses, in pink wool, had a candy-striper pink collar. It didn’t exactly say ’nurse.’”

NYTimesBoomBoomScreenshotThe second article, by Guy Trebay, quoted fashion designer Cynthia Rowley, who described a waitress “moving with gymnastic ease” through the crowd while adorned in an elegant dress at a new hot spot in Manhattan: “When you come in and see her, at first she’s like a beautiful nurse in white, bringing you your cocktail.” When once she’s dispensed her curative potions, Ms. Rowley added, the nurse–waitress magically “becomes an angel.” And, after a certain amount of time on the job at the Boom Boom Room, the nurse–angel–waitress, Ms. Rowley suggested, “may well ’become a bride’ to one of the monied denizens […]

2016-11-21T13:22:14-05:00September 23rd, 2009|career|2 Comments
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Nurse’s Aide Brings Nursing Home Sexual Abuse to Light—But Why Did It Take So Long?

NursingHomeAbuseScreenshotA few weeks ago I came across an article in a Virginia newspaper in which reporter Mike Owens wrote about the arrest of James Wright, who was indicted on four counts of aggravated sexual battery against different patients in a nursing home where he worked as a nurse’s aide from 2000 until 2007. The nursing facility, NHC HealthCare – Bristol, is one of 76 facilities owned by National HealthCare Corporation. According to the story, staff members—from peers to administrators—had known about Wright’s abuse of patients for years, but nothing was done to stop it until Patty Davenport, another nurse’s aide, frustrated and appalled that no action was being taken, lodged a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia.

To me, Davenport is a hero. But why did this take so long to come to light? A more recent article by Owens reports that several staff have accused the then director of nursing, Anne Franklin, of “trashing” their written complaints about Wright.

Through her attorney, Franklin denies this. I hope it’s not true. I’d like to think that any nurse who learned of such egregious acts would immediately take action to protect patients and blow the whistle long and hard. […]

2016-11-21T13:22:16-05:00September 22nd, 2009|career|1 Comment
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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