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The Role of School Nurses During a Pandemic

时间:2020-07-15 14:55:29

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When several students came to her office one day in 2009 with high temperatures and pain in their throats, Mary Pappas knew something was wrong. So she called the New York City Health Department. That call soon led to national action in what would become the H1N1 influenza1 pandemic, including the closure of some schools.

Laurie Combe is president of the National Association of School Nurses, or NASN. She recently told VOA that while school nurses can play an important role during any public health crisis, they "are always sentinels for health in the school community."

Combe explained that during a health crisis, school nurses can take on an "amplified2 role."

During the coronavirus crisis, teaching children and others how to wear face coverings and wash their hands is only a small piece of their work. As the virus picked up speed and schools closed, Combe says nurses continued do much of their usual work while taking on new responsibilities, some of which involved planning.

"School nurses are highly engaged in the physical and mental health needs of students and have expertise3 in emergency planning for pandemics."

Nurses' role changes, grows

Many school districts are deciding whether and how to reopen for the fall term. The planning comes as some parts of the U.S. experience sharp increases in coronavirus infection rates.

President Donald Trump4 has been pushing for schools to reopen in the fall. He recently criticized safety guidelines set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for schools to reopen. Trump said he found the guidelines impractical5 and too costly6.

The Trump administration has threatened to withhold7 federal money if districts do not fully8 reopen.

Still, even when schools remain physically9 closed, the need for nurses' usual expertise does not disappear.

For instance, during the spring term, nurses continued many of their daily duties, such as keeping in contact with parents of children with health conditions or parents who needed medical advice and resources. Some nurses even took medicines and equipment to homes of students with health conditions.

When schools shut their doors, some students received no home instruction. So some nurses reached out to families and students to find out if their needs were being met. Aside from physical or mental health concerns, nurses found that many students lacked access to the internet.

The need for meals continued too, so nurses helped oversee10 the safe processes for delivering food to students, Combe said. Around 30 million American children depend on low-cost or free school meals each day for nutrition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports.

As schools remained closed, nurses stayed connected through local and national groups to stay informed about the virus. They also turned to state and federal health agencies for expert guidance.

Janis Hogan is a nurse at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, Maine.

When schools in her state closed in the spring, she continued to perform some day-to-day responsibilities. But, she also began taking part in video meetings with school nurses from around the country. And, Hogan joined an international online group of mostly school nurses to learn what was happening in Europe's reopened schools.

"In some ways it was an amazing time of connection for school nurses because we were all in the same boat, but our boats are all a little bit different."

Hogan is also on a team considering the state's plans to reopen schools. Maine, which has had comparably low coronavirus infection rates, recently released its first reopening proposal. School nurses are named throughout the plan as central to the team effort, which includes administrators11, teachers, transportation workers, food service and others.

The shortage of school nurses

Nurses nationally have been involved in these cooperative efforts. But not all schools have their own school nurse.

U.S. school districts began cutting nurse staff leading up to the Great Recession of the early 2000s. Most districts did not bring the nurses back. Instead, many that were able to keep their jobs now work part-time at several different schools.

A 2016 study by NASN showed that just 39 percent of U.S. schools employ a full-time12 nurse. And 25 percent of public schools had no nurse at all. About 35 percent have a part-time nurse.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, or AAP, an organization of children's doctors, urges that all schools have at least one full-time nurse. A few years ago, the AAP said it would be best to have at least one nurse for every 750 students. But even now, as the coronavirus crisis continues, many U.S. school districts have just one nurse for well over 1,000 students.

Hogan said the shortage is especially troubling because many children receive their main or only medical attention from school nurses.

Not much has changed since the earlier U.S. pandemics.

A report by the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, on the 1918 influenza pandemic stated that officials in some cities - such as New York City and New Haven13, Connecticut - chose to keep public schools open. Officials reasoned that many children would have little or no medical supervision14 if schools closed. They also argued that schools could be more effectively disinfected than homes.

In those cities, school nurses and doctors performed daily medical inspections15 at schools. The nurses also educated their school communities on virus prevention and some made home visits to inspect the health of students and families.

While much has changed since the early twentieth century, the need for health experts at schools during a pandemic has not.

With large drops in tax revenues caused by the pandemic, schools across the U.S. have experienced huge budget cuts. Combe finds this concerning. She said that she has already heard reports of some nursing cuts, although massive reductions have not yet happened.

Combe added that some schools are looking to bring in more nurses to help with the expected work load to come. If schools reopen, there are also worries about getting necessary supplies.

In the Houston, Texas area, for example, the state education agency is providing schools personal protective equipment, or PPE. But the equipment does not include high-quality N95 face masks.

"School health rooms historically have very small budgets — maybe 10, 20, 30 cents per student for a whole school year."

A congressional bill called the NURSE Act, launched in March 2018, intended to increase school nurses in underfunded schools. The bill, however, did not pass.

I'm Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

role - n. a part that someone or something has in a particular activity or situation

sentinel - n. a soldier or guard whose job is to stand and keep watch

amplified - adj. made larger, greater or stronger

engage in - v. to take part in something

in the same boat - an expression that means to be in the same unpleasant situation as other people

delivering - gerund. Taking something to a person or place

impractical - adj. not practical

access - n. A way of being able to use or get something

disinfect - v. to clean something especially by using a chemical substance that kills all germs and bacteria

revenue - n. money that is collected for public use by a government through taxes

underfunded - adj. not receiving enough funding


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1 influenza J4NyD     
n.流行性感冒,流感
参考例句:
  • They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
  • Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。
2 amplified d305c65f3ed83c07379c830f9ade119d     
放大,扩大( amplify的过去式和过去分词 ); 增强; 详述
参考例句:
  • He amplified on his remarks with drawings and figures. 他用图表详细地解释了他的话。
  • He amplified the whole course of the incident. 他详述了事件的全过程。
3 expertise fmTx0     
n.专门知识(或技能等),专长
参考例句:
  • We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
  • You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。
4 trump LU1zK     
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭
参考例句:
  • He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
  • The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手,作为他的王牌。
5 impractical 49Ixs     
adj.不现实的,不实用的,不切实际的
参考例句:
  • He was hopelessly impractical when it came to planning new projects.一到规划新项目,他就完全没有了实际操作的能力。
  • An entirely rigid system is impractical.一套完全死板的体制是不实际的。
6 costly 7zXxh     
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的
参考例句:
  • It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
  • This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用,左不过贵了些。
7 withhold KMEz1     
v.拒绝,不给;使停止,阻挡
参考例句:
  • It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
  • I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。
8 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
9 physically iNix5     
adj.物质上,体格上,身体上,按自然规律
参考例句:
  • He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服,心绪也很乱。
  • Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。
10 oversee zKMxr     
vt.监督,管理
参考例句:
  • Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
  • Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。
11 administrators d04952b3df94d47c04fc2dc28396a62d     
n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 );有管理(或行政)才能的人;(由遗嘱检验法庭指定的)遗产管理人;奉派暂管主教教区的牧师
参考例句:
  • He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员,但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
  • Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城
12 full-time SsBz42     
adj.满工作日的或工作周的,全时间的
参考例句:
  • A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
  • I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作,我不知道她是如何对付的。
13 haven 8dhzp     
n.安全的地方,避难所,庇护所
参考例句:
  • It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后,这真是一个安乐窝。
  • The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。
14 supervision hr6wv     
n.监督,管理
参考例句:
  • The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
  • The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。
15 inspections c445f9a2296d8835cd7d4a2da50fc5ca     
n.检查( inspection的名词复数 );检验;视察;检阅
参考例句:
  • Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
  • Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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