Requires that a registered professional nurse be in each school when medically fragile students are in attendance or when students are at major risk of injury

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to the attendance of certain trained health professionals in public school buildings

Purpose

This bill would require a registered nurse to be on site at each school building when medically vulnerable children are present, or students are at major risk of injury.

Summary of provisions

This bill would add a new subdivision 4 to §902 of the Education Law to require that a registered professional nurse be on staff in each school building, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the commissioner, during the hours when medically fragile students are in attendance or when students are at major risk of injury.

Justification

Registered Nurses have the training needed to administer medical treatment or care to students with health conditions, disabilities or serious injuries. The need for having a trained health professional at each school building has been growing as more and more children with disabilities or developmental delays are being integrated into the classrooms. However, even children with relatively common health conditions can be put in jeopardy by a school's failure to make a Registered Nurse available at all times. This was borne out in January of 2005 when, according to media reports, a student in a Nassau County Middle School suffered a diabetes related health emergency and treatment was delayed because their was no nurse in the school building, the medication was secured in a locked area, and no trained health care provider was present to administer medication. In this case, a potential crisis was averted when student's parent arrived at the school.

Additionally, disabled, developmentally delayed, special education and mentally challenged students may have a variety of preexisting medical conditions that require constant medical monitoring that registered nurses are best able to able to provide.

Student's engaged in athletic activities can suffer injuries requiring immediate medial treatment; as are students in vocational education classes which require the operation of tools and machinery. Teachers and support personnel are not licensed medical professionals trained to handle these potentially serious and dangerous medical conditions. Enactment of this legislation will ensure that qualified professionals are on staff in each school to provide an appropriate response to these increasingly complex medical and physical exigencies.

Legislative history

This bill is substantially similar to S.4437/A.5449 introduced in the 2003-2004 Session, making only those changes needed to conform this bill to the language of § 902 of the Education Law.

2007-2008 Education Committee (S.1536/A.1181) 2005-2006 Education Committee (S.1949/A.9532) 2003-2004 Education Committee (S.4437/A.5449) 2001-2002 Education Committee (S.3100/A.3051) 1999-2000 Education Committee (S.4976/A.743)

Fiscal implications

The average salary of a registered professional nurse is approximately $40,000. Currently, there are 5,229 public school buildings in NYS. About 2,100 registered professional nurses are employed in 1,785 public school buildings. The additional cost to school districts and BOCES for RN salaries would be about $137,760,000.

Effective date

September 1 after enactment.