School nurses on front-lines of H1N1 preparedness efforts

    Everyone is talking about the 2009 H1N1 flu.  While the virus can affect anyone, it is especially dangerous for kids.  The federal government recommends school districts have one nurse for every 750 students.
    But in the east, only a third of our school districts meet the recommendation.  In addition, school nurse stations today are providing more preventative care—taking on more responsibilities that in years past fell under the health department.
    “The school nurses in Beaufort County did not go around to the schools and give flu shots last year,” said Beaufort County Schools nurse Cindy Edwards.  “So this is just a new added piece to our job.“
    Lead nurse Jackie Hoell agrees, “We have some major challenges going on of how we’re going to work all this into our time zone…you may get pulled from the school you’re at to another school—so your day is very busy.“
    School nurses are on the front lines on preventing the spread of the 2009 H1N1 flu.  While this years workload has grown—the staff has not. 
    In Beaufort County for example, there’s only four nurses—rotating in 14 different schools—and serving 7,100 students combined.
    And many other schools aren’t fairing much better.
    For now, the best defense for individual schools is preparedness.  Placing up signs to stop the spread of germs and control an outbreak.