Utah school nurses spread too thin

HIGHLAND — Several weeks ago school nurse Carla Lott was at Highland Elementary School when a preschooler collapsed after eating something to which he was allergic.

The child was there with his mother to watch an older sibling in a storytelling festival, said Alpine School District spokeswoman Jeri Mortenson. The school served shrimp poppers. The child ate some and reacted. Lott, who travels between six schools in the district, wasn't scheduled to be at Highland Elementary that day. But she was there and administered an epinephrine shot, which revived the child.

"We were able to save his life," she said.

Every school keeps the "epi-pen" on hand just for such emergencies.

The mother wasn't aware her child was allergic to seafood, Mortenson said. Yet shellfish is one of the more common food allergies, along with peanut butter and milk.

Food allergies are among the challenges Lott and other school nurses face as they travel between as many as nine schools a week keeping tabs on student health. Two other standout issues are asthma and diabetes. Alpine School District has an unusually high number of students with diabetes — 35, Lott said. Student asthma cases number more than 200 with about half of them at American Fork High School.

In Utah school nurses are spread so thin that they serve on average 6,127 students each — reportedly the worst ratio of nurses per student in the United States. Even with about 35 school nurses in Utah County that average remains true, Lott said. The preferred ratio is one nurse for every 750 students.

More recently, school nurse Lynn Todhunter used an epi-pen to assist a Springville High School student after she suffered a reaction to photo chemicals in a photography class. The drug clears the lungs and helps the patient breathe, Todhunter said. The student also reacted with a rash. An ambulance took her to an area hospital.

Todhunter happened to be at the school that day but usually spends half-days at six other Nebo District schools.

The Utah School Nurses Association honored Lott and Todhunter recently. Lott was honored after she created a model detailing the school nurse to student ratio. The display was used to support a Senate bill (SB48) and related activities.

"The goal is to show how school nurses function throughout the state," she said.