The content for this blog post was retrieved directly from the NASN website
Fund 10,000 School Nurses for Return to School
The Honorable Donald J. Trump
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
On behalf of 56.6 million pre-kindergarten, elementary and high school students in the United States and the National Association of School Nurses (NASN), we ask that any proposal crafted in the upcoming weeks to help re-open the United States economy and schools include an expansion of school nurses. We ask that you fund 10,000 school nurses for the upcoming school year as school nurses are part of the critical discussions on how this country re-opens its schools in the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
School re-entry is crucial for parents and guardians to go back to work. Having children at home and out of the classroom has caused undue economic and mental stress for families. Adding additional school nurses to schools across the country provides a key solution to help parents and the economy reopen. For schools to address the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, school nurses need to be in place when schools reopen and are central to the discussions of what the 2020-2021 school year will look like.
When schools reopen, it is imperative that school nurses – frontline healthcare providers – are present so that students can be healthy and safe at school, especially due to the presence of COVID-19 and the upcoming flu season. School nurses provide essential infectious disease surveillance, identification and intervention for student physical and mental health concerns, health screenings, school located vaccinations, and immunization compliance efforts. We know that keeping students in school will have tremendous implications for the economy, workforce, and families.
As you and your administration consider re-opening the economy, please consider school nurses as a key part of enabling parents to return to work and students to be safe at school. Thank you for your consideration to address the health, safety, and readiness of our nation’s children by increasing school nurse positions in U.S. schools.
