Slog
News & ArtsFriday, May 1, 2009
Snoutbreak Who's Watching For Flu At Seattle Schools?
Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Fri, May 1, 2009 at 5:37 PM
How important are school nurses?
With the World Health Organization declaring a swine flu pandemic “imminent,” the Seattle School District is asking teachers and administrators—who receive some training—to monitor kids for possible infection at most schools, instead of relying on trained medical staff.
According to data received from the Seattle School District, about 80%—or 74 of Seattle's 95 schools—don't have full-time nurses on staff. Nurses generally work two or three days a week, leaving teachers and secretaries to take temperatures and monitor kids for behavioral shifts, which could indicate illness.
The school district, naturally, is a bit defensive about the lack of nursing staff in the district. “Parents should be [monitoring] as well,” says Seattle School District spokesman David Tucker. “It’s not just the school district’s job." When I pointed out to Tucker that some teachers aren't comfortable diagnosing their students, Tucker says the district is "not looking for teachers to make diagnoses.”
While the school district is downplaying the importance of nurses in schools, at least one swine flu case appears to have been spotted by a school nurse. New York City school nurse Mary Pappas is being is being credited with spotting a swine flu outbreak at her school and contacting the health department.
It was her call to the New York City Health Department last Thursday morning that prompted the city to send samples from sick students to Atlanta for testing, and resulted in the first eight confirmed cases of swine flu in New York State on Sunday, triggering a nationwide response.
It’s possible that the nurses really aren’t necessary, and that vigilant parents and doctors will be enough. But it seems that they could also be a helpful resource to have in place at a time when schools are closing because of the fear of widespread illness. Unfortunately, the district doesn’t see it that way.
According to district records, about 50 of Seattle’s 95 schools don’t have a nurse on staff today.
1
I'd be very interested in a Stranger report on how Seattle schools are preparing to prevent bird flu, pig flu, salmonella, e.coli, and deadly chronic diseases in children. Of course, the only way to do that is to stop feeding them animal carcasses.
Are Seattle schools interested in actually preventing these diseases? It would actually save the district money immediately. Instead, they are making kids sick and spending millions on lackluster treatment.
Are Seattle schools interested in actually preventing these diseases? It would actually save the district money immediately. Instead, they are making kids sick and spending millions on lackluster treatment.
3
It seems to me that the added value of school nurses is to be an aggregator of sorts -- if five kids are sent home sick with the relevant symptoms, the nurse will notice and report it, whereas the five individual families won't necessarily report anything unless the kid is sick enough to need a doc. So school nurses can be a monitoring point.
4
@1: I told you in the morning you'd be more persuasive if you used less loaded language, and here I come back and find you didn't take my advice, but quite the opposite, spent all day typing "corpse industry" and "animal carcasses" into the comments field as many times as you could. And boy did you prove me wrong! Why, just look at all the converts you've made. By my count.... hmmm... let's see... that makes --- wow, you convinced exactly NO ONE. Wait, that can't be right. Let me count again... Nope. Not one. Kinda sad, actually.
I almost wonder if you care more about berating people than you do about making the world a better --- oh. Right. It all makes sense now. Carry on.
I almost wonder if you care more about berating people than you do about making the world a better --- oh. Right. It all makes sense now. Carry on.
5
Volcano monitoring, pandemic preparations, school nurses--get rid of all that fucking waste of money pork-barrel spending. Who needs it?
Now let's talk about a new football stadium. And getting the NBA back here pronto!
Now let's talk about a new football stadium. And getting the NBA back here pronto!
6
What education programs would you recommend cutting so that the district can pay for more nurses? It's not fair to say the district doesn't think nurses are important. I'm sure it does. But between cutting teachers or nurses, I can't blame the district for choosing the latter.
8
Sorry #2. You can't stop my ideas. I'm a creation of Slog. Slog posters and commenters are too reasonable about everything else to continue to be unreasonable about this. Denying the incredible health risks of eating corpses is like denying the incredible health risks of smoking. Believing that it's unnatural to stop eating corpses is like believing it's unnatural for gay people to marry. Ignoring the needless death and disease imposed on others by corpse eaters is like ignoring the needless deaths of the uninsured. Denying that corpse harvesting is the most important threat to the environment is like denying that global warming exists. Accepting a society that condones harvesting animal carcasses is like accepting a society that condones unjust wars.
#4, I'll meet you in the middle. If everyone reading this stops eating animal corpses, I'll start calling it "meat."
#4, I'll meet you in the middle. If everyone reading this stops eating animal corpses, I'll start calling it "meat."
9
@8: Well, you've convinced me. Oh, wait. No you haven't. 0 for about 100. Keep swingin' though, kiddo. Fight the good fight.
10
School nurses are just a nanny state liberal invention, there to give out birth control and abortion referrals. If they're sick, their parents should take them to a doctor, and pay in cash.
11
School nurses are just a fascist state invention, there to give out racial birth advice and lebensraum referrals. If they're unable to find a proper Aryan to sire their eggs, their parents should take them to a doctor, and pay in cash.
12
Boom-chi-cha-boom-chi-cha-boom-chi-boom
I'm Mr. Plow, and I'm here to say,
I'm the plowin'est guy in the USA.
I got a big plow and I'll move a lot of things,
Like your cow if you have one...
I'm Mr. Plow, and I'm here to say,
I'm the plowin'est guy in the USA.
I got a big plow and I'll move a lot of things,
Like your cow if you have one...
13
I gotta admit, you are really fucking turning me on, Stop it now. Have you tried the pate they have at Husky Deli in West Seattle? I'm not talking about foie gras, just regular ol' pate. It's fantastic if you have them slice it as thin as they can, then grill it really quickly so it crisps. Oh, lord. I'd eat that off of you any old day.
You'll thank me in about five years, sweetheart.
You'll thank me in about five years, sweetheart.
14
My kids attend the Highline School district. They are currently being monitored by voice mail...or at least the voice mail told me so.
My best defense as a parent has been to reiterate, demonstrate, and practice proper hand washing. I also have issued them all mini- sanitizers.
My best defense as a parent has been to reiterate, demonstrate, and practice proper hand washing. I also have issued them all mini- sanitizers.
15
So, a thread about school nursing turns into a thread debating animals as food. Nice. Um, we have eye teeth/incisors, which are for TEARING INTO FLESH.
Hey Stop It Now, do you have four stomachs? If not, STFU.
On to the topic here - school nurses do more than manage sniffles - they monitor asthma, diabetes, and the special medical needs of students. They can also discern whether a sick child has a run of the mill rhinovirus versus a potential flu. But as school budgets are cut to the bone, so goes funding for adequate staffing of nurses.
The 'me first, you're on your own' libertarians who think taxation leads to a 'nanny state' deserve to be the first casualties of their ideas. Very sadly, it doesn't work that way - they take the rest of us down in their sinking USS Bullshit.
Hey Stop It Now, do you have four stomachs? If not, STFU.
On to the topic here - school nurses do more than manage sniffles - they monitor asthma, diabetes, and the special medical needs of students. They can also discern whether a sick child has a run of the mill rhinovirus versus a potential flu. But as school budgets are cut to the bone, so goes funding for adequate staffing of nurses.
The 'me first, you're on your own' libertarians who think taxation leads to a 'nanny state' deserve to be the first casualties of their ideas. Very sadly, it doesn't work that way - they take the rest of us down in their sinking USS Bullshit.
16
I taught for three years, the classroom was so crowded we didn't have enough desks and 4 or five unfortunate students would park themselves on the windowsill and take notes in their lap. I remember the year we asked for a budget so we could purchase enough text books for each student, the administration laughed in my face. The reason I don't teach anymore is because I couldn't support myself on a teachers salary. I don't remember ever seeing a nurse on campus but if I had, I probably would have complained that it was a waste of scarce funding. Schools are for teaching, first and foremost, until we get that part figured out, nurses are an opulent luxury that we cant afford.
17
You might think keeping a sick kid home from school would be one of the easiest jobs a parent could have. Seems times have changed.
Whatever the objective is, hiring a nurse for $50k a year might not be the cheapest way to get there. After all, what does the nurse do for the 80 years between pandemics?
Whatever the objective is, hiring a nurse for $50k a year might not be the cheapest way to get there. After all, what does the nurse do for the 80 years between pandemics?
18
As a registered nurse in a public school district in Texas which recognizes the importance of school nurses, I find the attitude of the SPS and commentators shocking. School nurses do so much more than managedpandemics and take temperatures. I cannot possibly enumerate the many problems I have caught...mistakes by MD's, potentially lethal prescriptions or misuse of medication, kids with life-threatening allergies or asthma and ignorant parents, etc. I have caught. I have kids with tube feedings, trachs, etc. If a kid shows up with a ventilator, they must be educated in the least restrictive environment per ADA law. That means In. Your. Classroom. You gonna manage a kid with a tracheostomy on a ventilator? Good luck with that.
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