SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 9

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2004

INTRODUCED BY

Cynthia Nava

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT STUDY THE DELIVERY OF HEALTH SERVICES IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS USING SCHOOL NURSES.

     WHEREAS, school nurses coordinate student health services, conduct health assessments and screenings, provide clinical care, administer medications, identify abused and neglected children, provide before- and after-school health programs, provide health education for students, staff and parents, identify health and safety concerns in school environments and save lives in emergency situations; and

     WHEREAS, school nurse positions have been eliminated in a greater proportion than other positions within the educational system because services that are not mandated by law are frequently cut disproportionately regardless of the benefit to students; and

     WHEREAS, more and more students with severe chronic illnesses or developmental disabilities are attending schools; and

     WHEREAS, almost seven percent of public school districts do not have a registered nurse on staff; and

     WHEREAS, the ratio of school nurse to students varies from a low of one to four hundred eighty-eight to a high of one to two thousand one hundred fifty, and forty-five percent of school districts do not meet the national standard of one nurse to every seven hundred fifty students; and

     WHEREAS, in sixty-nine percent of school districts, there are fewer than one registered nurse for every two schools; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico experiences a high teen pregnancy rate, youth drug use, the highest level of youth poverty in the country and a high rate of uninsured children; and

     WHEREAS, poor health of students contributes to absenteeism and academic failure, and, historically, reducing absenteeism and improving student health have been the most important reasons for school nursing services; and

     WHEREAS, the House Joint Memorial 3 task force that met in 2001 and 2002 identified several broad system-level issues that could not be answered without further study;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of health and the public education department be requested to create a task force to study the appropriate use and staffing of nurses in the public schools; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force be requested to answer the following questions, which were left unanswered by the earlier task force:

          A. what constitutes adequate nursing supervision of ancillary staff;

          B. what is the appropriate level of nursing presence in New Mexico schools;

          C. how do the health and educational systems become better integrated across all New Mexico school systems; and

          D. how do school nurses interface with other health care providers and services within the school systems; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force look at these issues in the context of different geographical needs, economic disparity, cultural differences and funding; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force be made up of representatives of the department of health, the public education department, school districts, the school nurses association, school administrators, an education-health assistant organization, the New Mexico pediatric society, parents' groups and other appropriate advocacy groups; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force report its findings to the legislative education study committee and the legislative health and human services committee by October 2005; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of health and the secretary of public education.

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