Bigelow effort would fund more school nurses
Rep. Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley, and co-chairman of the Legislature's main budget committee, confirmed Tuesday that he is talking about creating a line item to pay for additional school nurses.
"We're trying to figure out the best method to approach that since school districts originally had school nurses, but much of the funding (when rolled into block grants) was diverted into other programs," Bigelow said. "We want to see more school nurses in the schools, but we also want the school districts to step up to the issue as well. So we're going to talk with them and with others about what is the best way to approach this."
Bigelow said a state-local match grant program "certainly is a possibility."
He has had talks with the Utah School Nurses Association and heard from parents concerned about student health issues. But Bigelow said the primary force behind the budget talks is Tooele mother Paula Tuck.
Tuck in 2005 circulated a petition to put one nurse in every Utah school — there are well over 900 — after her elementary school-aged daughter accidentally overdosed on asthma medication when no school nurse was on hand. Utah has more than 6,100 students for every full-time school nurse — the worst ratio in the country. The National Association of School Nurses recommends one nurse for every 750 students.
Utah schools are giving more than 1,600 medications to students every day, most often via a school secretary or teacher, according to an American Federation of Teachers study presented to lawmakers last month. Yet a University of Iowa School of Nursing study shows schools are three times more likely to err in medicating students in such situations.
While the cry for more school nurses naturally follows statistics like these, Utah — and the nation — is amid a nursing shortage. The problem is that colleges here have lacked space and faculty to educate all the students wanting to enter nursing programs. A separate state program is working to address that.
Although Tuck continues to gather signatures — she had more than 5,500 late last year — efforts now center on a video circulated by e-mail about her daughter's incident and Utah's school nursing shortage. That video was created by Living Biography; its Web site, www.livingbiography.com, helps put interested viewers in contact with their legislators.
"Obviously, (lawmakers have) been talking about this, because we're getting somewhere," Tuck said. She said she hopes "something is going to be done in time to save somebody else's child."
Bigelow said dollar amounts have not come up yet. While there "seems to be some support" for a budget item, it's still early.
"Even though there are record funds available, the demand has already far, far surpassed the available funds," Bigelow said. "Where the real test comes is when you get closer to the end and people start having to choose between programs."
The Legislature adjourns Feb. 28.
E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com
You can be the first to comment on this story.