Utah ranks last in the number of school nurses per student. But now, Utah's school nurses and AFT-Utah are working for change. Meanwhile, the number of students with medical needs has increased, partly due to legislation that opened schools to more medically fragile children. But there has also been a major upsurge in the number of children with severe asthma, diabetes and children who are taking prescription medication while at school. Parents do not realize the current state of Utah's school nurse program.
Nurses say that parents often have the mistaken notion that there's a nurse in every school.
With so few school nurses, secretaries are recording blood-sugar levels or dispensing medication to students. Pennsylvania school nurse wins whistleblower suit. In March 1999, Baird wrote a letter about the district's problems to the state board of education. After that, she received written reprimands and was harassed. In awarding damages, the jury found that school administrators retaliated against Baird and deprived her of her First Amendment right to free speech.