ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 15, 1996 TAG: 9606180025
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
ACCORDING TO ONE REPORT, 28 school districts were without a school nurse back in 1991-92.
A coalition of public school leaders is putting together a plan to convince the General Assembly that teachers should not double as school nurses and that money must be found for school health services.
A problem arises when teachers don't feel comfortable performing medical services for children.
In Mecklenburg County this year, two teachers who supervised a 6-year-old diabetic said they were unwilling to give him his insulin shots. The boy's parents also said they wanted a nurse for their son.
An administrative hearing was held in the dispute and the lawyer who heard the case decided that school employees could give the boy the shots.
The parents have appealed the decision, and another lawyer, appointed by the state Supreme Court, is reviewing the case.
``The problem as we see it is that there is inadequate provision of health services for the school children of Virginia in many localities,'' Judy Castleman, a lobbyist for the Virginia Association of School Nurses, said Thursday.
The state does not know how many schools use teachers rather than nurses for health services. One report found that 28 school districts didn't have a school nurse during the 1991-92 school year.
The State Department of Health plans to survey schools this fall to update that report.
Representatives from groups of teachers, parents, pediatricians, superintendents, school nurses and school boards met privately for two hours Thursday to discuss the problem.
The group is considering drafting one or more bills to submit when the legislature convenes next year.
David Blount, a spokesman for the Virginia School Boards Association, said there was some discussion about state laws elsewhere that dictate which medical procedures can be performed in schools by nonmedical staff members.
``You've got certain things that it's probably very wise to have health professionals do,'' Blount said. ``But then you have other things that, with some training and funding, there could be teachers - if they were willing to do so - who could do these things.''
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB