After reading your article I felt compelled to respond. I am a school nurse in an Elementary School. I see an average of 50 students a day. For some of these students, I am the only medical person they see. If I can save one child there is a reason for nurses in every school. What price do you put on a student's life?

In your article you asked about students going from school to the emergency room. In the eleven years I have been a school nurse I have sent children to the emergency room. Two students had full blown undiagnosed diabetes and both times we were told that if they had waited till the next day they would have been in a coma and possibly died. The parents thought they were getting over the flu but because I was in the school and able to access the student, I knew they needed to go immediately for medical care. If you had a child with diabetes would you want a secretary deciding how much insulin to give your child or you have to come to the school yourself several times a day to decide what your child needs.

I have also caught the kids that had continuous coughs and have heard lung sounds of rattling or wheezing and they were later diagnosed with asthma and pneumonia by a Physician. We have connections that teachers don't have with the medical community and are able to get help for the ones without insurance or money to pay an expensive visit to the Doctor.

My story is the story of all school nurses. We have handled situations that could become a problem for everyone. We help to keep our schools healthier and give a touch of comfort to students who may never know it otherwise.

I know in our county, the school nurses do presentations in the classroom on health issues that help us keep our kids in class. We enable the teachers to do their job of teaching and not have to worry about the responsibility of a sick students.

Every Child Deserves a School Nurse!

Respectively,

Nancy Underdahl