Ensuring Access to School Nursing Services for Massachusetts Children and Youth (The Comprehensive Report on School Nursing Services in the Commonwealth) Prepared by Craven and Ober, Policy Strategists, LLC January 2008 (Full Report may be accessed at www.msno.org) Presents an overview of the true nature of school nursing in the 21st century 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. Describes how even with such limited resources, school nurses have provided care that maximizes a child’s capacity to learn. Illustrates mechanisms for sustainability of these necessary services. A few interesting facts about school nursing: Massachusetts students collectively interacted with their school nurses over 6 million times last year. We see over 90% of the students one or more times each school year and almost 60% of the students for five or more health visits each year. 90% of the students return to class after receiving services from the school nurse There are 18-20% of students in the Commonwealth that have a diagnosed health condition that requires nursing assistance in school. $11.2 billion each year is spent on public education in Massachusetts and $102.2 million on the health of the children while they are in school Massachusetts spends $11,000 per pupil on education and $108 /per pupil of nursing services during the school day For the 1.1 million students we have more than 73,000 teachers, and 2100 school nurses The average full time salary of a school nurse is about $50,000 plus benefits Statistics reflect data generated from the 103 school districts (half the State) who received funding from the Essential School Health Services (ESHS) grant that supports adequate school nursing service accessibility. The statistics are not reflective of what all students across the State experience. These numbers are only a glimpse into the large proportion of health care delivery that falls on school nurses that is not accounted for in most statistics about health care costs and delivery. “You cannot educate an unhealthy child and you cannot keep an uneducated child healthy" (Dr. M. Jocelyn Elders, Former U.S. Surgeon General)