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In coordination with the release of the Massachusetts School Nurse report titled: Ensuring Adequate School Nurse Access For Massachusetts Children & Youth, the Massachusetts School Nurse Organization hosts both, its 2nd annual School Nurse and Legislator Visit Days, planned for the week, January 27 – February 1, 2008 and a press event at the State House illustrating their findings. Legislator Visit Day was initiated in celebration of National School Nurse Day in May 2007. Last year’s visits produced positive feedback from both the legislators and school nurses of the thirty districts who participated in the event (Name of Local state legislators) plans on visiting with school nurses at (name the schools) during the week of January 28, 2008. (He/She) will experience first hand how indispensable the 21st century school nurse is to our education system. This visit will focus on the health and safety issues that school nurses encounter and children’s ability to access care. Modern school health programs are critical to the improvement of the well being of our young people, their educational performance and the adults they will become. Massachusetts students collectively visited school nurses more than 6 million times last year alone. School nurses see over 90% of the student body one or more times each school year, and almost 60% of the student population for five or more health visits each year. On average there are 18-20% of students in the Commonwealth that have a diagnosed health condition that requires continuity of care by a school nurse. These numbers reflect a glimpse into the large portion of health care services provided directly by school nurses that are not accounted for in most health care delivery statistics about health promotion, prevention and costs. In addition, MSNO will host a press event on January 29, 2008 to release the findings of a first of its kind report titled: Ensuring Adequate School Nurse Access For Massachusetts Children & Youth. Among its many findings, the report illustrates that less than 1% of the entire educational budget is spent on nursing services to address the persistent health needs of children during the school day. Even with such limited resources, school nurses have provided care that maximizes a child’s capacity to learn. This report illustrates mechanisms for sustainability of these necessary services. About the MSNO: MSNO was founded in 1970 and has been a strong voice for school nurses throughout the Commonwealth. 800 members strong, our non-profit organization includes among its membership school nurses, school administrators, public health nurses, practitioners, consultants, educators, and retired school nurses. MSNO has a proud history of excellence in promoting and advancing quality school health services, focusing on issues surrounding school nursing in the legislative, economic, and educational realm. For more information on MSNO, please visit www.msno.org. |
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