CAPE SCHOOLS WILL HIRE LPNs AS SCHOOL NURSES

Yvonne Lossing knows that school nurses are important -- one of them saved her son, Kevin's, life.

Kevin, 13, had a heart transplant in June after learning that muscular dystrophy had weakened his heart muscle. A registered nurse at Louis J. Schultz was one of the first to recognize the problem.

"Kevin came to her with a stomach ache, but she could tell his heart was beating too fast," Lossing said. "If it wasn't for her finding the problem with his heart, we could have lost him."

Now Lossing is a student at Central Junior High School. The school nurse at Central Junior High retired at the end of the year and substitute nurses have been hired until the position is filled.

Last year the district had six nurses who rotated days in each building. But there were days that a school nurse was not available for every building, and some buildings aren't fully staffed this year.

To help solve the problem, the Cape Girardeau Board of Education approved a policy Monday that allows the district to hire LPNs and not just RNs as school nurses. The policy was approved by a 5-2 vote. Board members Ferrell Ervin and Steve Wright opposed the policy change.

There should be RNs in every building, Wright said. "You can't put a price on health care."

Full-time RNs cost the district $126,659 last year. Hiring two additional nurses, even at a lower base salary, will cost $136,107 for the current year.

The additional $10,000 will put a strain on the budget, but will equalize coverage, said Dr. Bob Fox, school board president.

The school will advertise for the positions this weekend, but the ad won't specify LPN or RN. All five nurses now working in the district are RNs. However, two were hired at the LPN rate.

Brenda Woemmel, NEA president, doesn't agree that hiring an LPN is the solution to the school health-care crisis. The supervising RN could be held liable for the LPNs actions.

Their legal liability is greater than a teacher's liability when they supervise an after-school activity, she said. "They handle more life-and-death situations than I do on a daily basis."

It is important that each building have a nurse to cover emergencies, said Ervin. "Maybe I'm really hard-headed, but I'm not convinced of the service we will have with an LPN." Hiring RNs should be a high priority for next year, he said.

LPNs can do everything that a school nurse is required to do, said superintendent, Dr. Dan Tallent. LPNs must be supervised by a registered nurse or doctor. A supervisor will be paid a $1,000 stipend by the district.

"We would like a full staff of RNs but we have other pressing needs too," Fox said. It may take the district three years before it can afford to hire RNs for every building.