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COVID-19 Lays Bare NYC School Nurse Shortage
By
Jessica Gould
Published Mar 12, 2020
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By
Jessica Gould
Published Mar 12, 2020
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As COVID-19 continues to spread throughout New York, the city’s Department of Education is scrambling to enlist 85 new school nurses to address a longstanding shortage.
Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said last week that new nurses were being hired to staff every school building by Friday. It’s something parents have been lobbying for for years.
But there’s a hitch: As contract workers, the new nurses won’t be able to access students’ online medical records directly.
Mark Treyger, chairman of the City Council’s education committee, said that could be a big problem, especially against the backdrop of COVID-19.
"It’s not clear to me what access they’ll have to those health records,” he said. “How do they ensure that no healthcare decision is being made that compromises the fragile state of students who already have certain conditions?”
A DOE spokesperson said all contract nurses can access paper records, which are maintained onsite. Those records should include whether a student has asthma, diabetes or other major risk factors associated with the coronavirus. They can also get the information from the online database if they go through a full time employee.
Still, Treyger said the challenges with hiring contract nurses during the coronavirus outbreak speaks to a much larger issue. According to the United Federation of Teachers, some 70,000 NYC students attend schools without a nurse. On top of that, there are hundreds of school nurse slots occupied by temporary workers, and it has been that way for quite a while.
There is a national shortage of school nurses, but New York City’s situation has some unique elements, including pay disparities between nurses hired by two different city agencies. The Department of Health is responsible for hiring the majority of school nurses -- and they’re represented by the union DC37. The Department of Education hires hundreds more. Represented by the UFT, they have higher pay, benefits, and pensions.
Treyger said he didn’t know why the separate streams exist. “This is something that has apparently gone on for many years,” he said.
Union leaders say that disparity has exacerbated the school nurse shortage, resulting in the need for some 350 temporary nurses to work in schools every day.
“There is a great difference between what the public health nurses in the school system get paid and what the nurses [employed by] the DOE get paid,” said Judy Arroyo, President of DC37’s Local 436. She said the pay gap can range from $10,000 to $20,000 depending on an individual’s level of experience.
Arroyo said it’s crucial to address the pay gap, especially as all school nurses face increasingly difficult challenges: The coronavirus is the newest threat, but nurses routinely are responsible for sensitive tasks, from suctioning students’ airways to changing catheters.
Kim Watkins, president of the District 3 Community Education Council, said the council passed a resolution last year calling for pay parity between nurses. It also called for better recruitment strategies -- including more tuition-reimbursement -- to boost the pipeline for candidates.
She said the 85 new nurses are welcome, but insufficient.
“It’s still woefully inadequate in terms of what vacancies exist,” Watkins said.
Tagged
COVID-19
school nurse
public schools
coronavirus
Jessica Gould
Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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