At the Fall Brook School in Leominster, one of many schools in Central Mas sachusetts where finding substitutes is a problem, nurse Jean Carignan said substitute pay may be the problem. They come once, but they don t come again, she said. In Shrewsbury, there is a relatively large pool of substitutes, according to Norma Emerson, nurse at the Calvin Coolidge Elementary School. We re very lucky here, she said. There are some situations that are not as good as this.
Some communities have one nurse for the whole system.
Ms. Emerson said Shrewsbury school nurses are paid on the same scale as teachers, a standard that she believes would attract more people into school nursing if other communities did the same. The state Department of Public Health is doing a survey on school nursing, with results due in the spring. At that point, the DPH expects to have a better idea on the extent of the school nurse shortage. I want to emphasize how important school nurses are in any community, doing more than before with more kids with specialized health needs, Ms. Pawelec said. School nurses provide continuity, noticing subtle changes that can occur in children from grade to grade, she said.