Many school districts need more school nurses, report finds

Many if not most Kentucky public school districts have fewer school nurses than national guidelines call for, a Kentucky Youth Advocates report says.

"A Picture of Health: School Health Services in Kentucky" found that "only 38 percent of school districts responding to its survey met or exceeded a National Nurses Association recommendation calling for one school nurse for every 750 students. The average Kentucky district provided one nurse for every 1,254 students," the Lexington Herald-Leader's Jim Warren reports.

The report also found the average  district spends less than 1 percent of its operating budget on health services. That number only factored in direct spending by the districts and did not include support that might come from health departments, universities or other organizations.

Of Kentucky's 174 districts, 137 responded to the survey. KYA Executive Director Terry Brooks called the report a "starting point" for looking at ways to expand health services in schools. (Read more)