No nurse for you

Less than half of the Golden State’s school districts have a full-time school nurse.

A report compiled by researchers at Sacramento State University found that 57 percent of school districts are without a full-time nurse, according to California Healthline. The report also found wide variation in the number of students an individual school nurse is responsible for, from 180 to more than 20,000.

Dian Baker, a CSU researcher involved in the report, said the capacity of schools in some areas to provide health services to students “is so low that the safety of these children might be at risk.” The National Association of School Nurses ranked California 45th in the nation for access to school nurses.

School districts have cut back on school nursing staff to reduce costs, opting rather to hire health aides and train school staff to administer students’ medications.