The reason why the "nursing gap" is an issue is not only the lack of critical healthcare services for students and staff on the front lines but also having trained "eyes and ears on the ground" that could warn of possible outbreaks before they spread into the broader community.
From the article: "Rachel VanDenBrink is the president-elect of the Michigan Association of School Nurses, and she disagrees. Because nurses are permitted by law to assess a student that comes to them, she says, they can look at several different pieces before making a decision."
"A para-professional is going to look at a headache and go, oh my gosh, that’s one of the symptoms! You have to go home!” said VanDenBrink. A school nurse can look at things like, “Do you really have a headache, or are you struggling with a classmate who’s bullying you? Or are you struggling with the fact that, you know, school looks different this year."
I had the idea (as shown in my Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/izzl2p/the_school_nursing_gap_and_how_a_draft_could/) to use the Selective Service System Healthcare Professional Delivery System to draft nurses/Physician Assistants to serve in schools/districts without said personnel. But, it would take political will and support from the top to implement. (I could see IDPH/IDFPR implementing a similar Statewide system, but it would again take said political will and support.)
If we're not willing to provide the infrastructure and support in our schools to keep our "frontline fighters" (teachers/staff) healthy and safe and protect students, we should focus those resources on utilizing online/remote educational technologies to serve our population in the most effective way possible. (We as a nation put a man on the moon and created the atomic bomb. There's no reason why we can't leverage the American technology industry to not only deliver educational content to students but to move the art of education forward.)
When one thinks about COVID policy, we have to be aware that COVID isn't a binary "survive or die" disease. There have been many cases of "long COVID" where patients (even children) are still exhibiting symptoms six months or more after being diagnosed. This is an example: https://etechlib.wordpress.com/2020/09/14/undiagnosed-no-longer-day-185-six-months/
If we don't take into account "long COVID" we ignore not only the *human* costs (medical expenses/hardships) but also the *economic* costs of people that are unable to contribute to our economy (and by extension, our tax base.)
Thanks! I think that "long COVID" is one of the risks that we as a country (and as a broader society) haven't thought of before because COVID-19 is a new disease. If we're putting kids (and by extension teachers/support staff) back into the classroom solely based on a low *death* rate and we end up having a generation of "long COVID" (also called "long-hauler") patients because of it, I think that those resources could be better used to improve online learning to make it more accessible and engaging to the populations we serve.
If you want to talk about societal impacts, what would the impact be on our Social Security system (Supplemental Security Income and other benefits) if we end up having a generation of "long-haulers?"
Also, we have to think about the healthcare infrastructure in our schools. According to the New York Times, less than 40% of US schools today have a full-time nurse: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/us/schools-reopening-nurses-covid.html
The reason why the "nursing gap" is an issue is not only the lack of critical healthcare services for students and staff on the front lines but also having trained "eyes and ears on the ground" that could warn of possible outbreaks before they spread into the broader community.
Also, school nurses can provide critical emotional support to students *along with* said healthcare services as shown in this article: https://wsbt.com/news/operation-education/operation-education-managing-without-school-nurses-amid-a-pandemic
From the article: "Rachel VanDenBrink is the president-elect of the Michigan Association of School Nurses, and she disagrees. Because nurses are permitted by law to assess a student that comes to them, she says, they can look at several different pieces before making a decision."
"A para-professional is going to look at a headache and go, oh my gosh, that’s one of the symptoms! You have to go home!” said VanDenBrink. A school nurse can look at things like, “Do you really have a headache, or are you struggling with a classmate who’s bullying you? Or are you struggling with the fact that, you know, school looks different this year."
I had the idea (as shown in my Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/izzl2p/the_school_nursing_gap_and_how_a_draft_could/) to use the Selective Service System Healthcare Professional Delivery System to draft nurses/Physician Assistants to serve in schools/districts without said personnel. But, it would take political will and support from the top to implement. (I could see IDPH/IDFPR implementing a similar Statewide system, but it would again take said political will and support.)
https://www.aier.org/article/open-letter-from-medical-doctors-and-health-professionals-to-all-belgian-authorities-and-all-belgian-media/
If we're not willing to provide the infrastructure and support in our schools to keep our "frontline fighters" (teachers/staff) healthy and safe and protect students, we should focus those resources on utilizing online/remote educational technologies to serve our population in the most effective way possible. (We as a nation put a man on the moon and created the atomic bomb. There's no reason why we can't leverage the American technology industry to not only deliver educational content to students but to move the art of education forward.)
When one thinks about COVID policy, we have to be aware that COVID isn't a binary "survive or die" disease. There have been many cases of "long COVID" where patients (even children) are still exhibiting symptoms six months or more after being diagnosed. This is an example: https://etechlib.wordpress.com/2020/09/14/undiagnosed-no-longer-day-185-six-months/
If we don't take into account "long COVID" we ignore not only the *human* costs (medical expenses/hardships) but also the *economic* costs of people that are unable to contribute to our economy (and by extension, our tax base.)
Good points, Douglas and with supporting data. I appreciate you commenting.
Thanks! I think that "long COVID" is one of the risks that we as a country (and as a broader society) haven't thought of before because COVID-19 is a new disease. If we're putting kids (and by extension teachers/support staff) back into the classroom solely based on a low *death* rate and we end up having a generation of "long COVID" (also called "long-hauler") patients because of it, I think that those resources could be better used to improve online learning to make it more accessible and engaging to the populations we serve.
This is a Journal of the American Medical Association article about "long haulers": https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2771111
Here is an example of a pediatric "long-hauler", Eli Lipman: https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/15/us/long-haul-coronavirus-father-son/index.html
If you want to talk about societal impacts, what would the impact be on our Social Security system (Supplemental Security Income and other benefits) if we end up having a generation of "long-haulers?"