DiNatale Aims to Secure More Funding for School Nursing Programs (01/28/10)
Posted 2010-01-28 20:43:40
Checking the vitals
DiNatale visits school nurses in district
BY CAROLINE KERAS CKERAS@FITCHBURGPRIDE.COM
On some days, Jacqueline Lessard feels more like a sprinter than the nurse at Arthur M. Longsjo Jr. Middle School.
“I wear my sneakers to work because I tend to get called out of my office a lot,” said Lessard.
Lessard recently told Rep. Stephen DiNatale (D-Fitchburg) that she typically sees between 60 and 80 kids a day, for everything from receiving their daily medication, to a headache, to more serious injuries.
“We have seen a few broken bones from gym class and on the way to school,” said Lessard.
DiNatale visited Lessard and other school nurses during a tour of the school nurses’ offices at Longsjo Middle School, South Street Elementary School, and Crocker Elementary School so they could discuss the needs, concerns, and satisfactions of district nurses.
“It is a first-hand experience for a legislative representative to see how vital it is to have a fulltime school nurse in every building,” said Pamela Rivers, the Fitchburg School District nurse leader.
In addition to all of the students who visit her office on a daily basis, Lessard must give annual scoliosis, hearing, vision, and body mass index screenings to all of the 700- plus students in the school.
She tries to be the first line of defense for alerting parents to their child’s health issues that may need a doctor’s attention, as well as help parents who want to see if their child’s symptoms warrant a doctor’s visit.
“I think parents utilize our services a lot as a second check from themselves,” said Lessard.
In conjunction with the health and gym teachers at Longsjo Middle School, Lessard works to help prevent illness as much as treat it.
“We do a lot of education with kids,” said Lessard.
From instilling the importance of exercise in students, to teaching them proper hand washing techniques, to showing them how to put on sunscreen correctly, Lessard looks at it as her job to help teach skills that will help the students live a high quality of life long after they have left middle school.
Although she continues to assist parents in ensuring that their kids are healthy, Lessard said that she is completing far less tests, such as nose and throat checks, since health care became mandatory in Massachusetts in 2007.
School nurses also have to be prepared for the unexpected. Of all the times that Epipens were administered last year, 46 percent of the doses were given to students with undiagnosed allergies. Random incidents, such as concussions or seizure, also occur to students during recess or to visitors of the school during events such as holiday concerts and field days.
“You never know when an emergency will occur,” said Lessard.
One recent emergency was the widespread outbreak of the H1N1 virus during the fall of 2009.
“The children were particularly targeted in this pandemic,” said Rivers.
That made ensuring that children were vaccinated extremely important. In the first round of H1N1 clinics offered by the city through Community Health Connections, 74 percent of the recipients were enrolled at schools in Fitchburg. In the second round of vaccinations, 63 percent were enrolled in a Fitchburg school.
“The vaccine was more available at schools than in pediatricians offices,” said Rivers.
Knowing the challenges that come with the job of a school nurse, DiNatale wants to make sure that they receive as much support as possible.
“When budget season rolls around and we are asked the issues that are important to us, this is always one of my important issues,” said DiNatale.
Although DiNatale acknowledges that finding the money to properly fund these programs is difficult, gaining support to allocate money when it is available is not a challenge.
“These kinds of issues are easy with other members because we are all in similar situations,” said DiNatale.
Rep. Stephen DiNatale (D-Fitchburg) learns a great deal about the daily routine of a school nurse after a recent visit to Jacqueline Lessard, the nurse at Longsjo Middle School. DiNatale also visited the nurses’ offices at Crocker and South Street elementary schools that day. PRIDE PHOTO/ CAROLINE KERAS
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