Nurse-Student Ratio in Mississippi

In Mississippi, the number of swine flu cases continues to develop across the state. The staff of some schools does not include a nurse so they have difficult time to avoid swine flu cases. There are 457 school nurses state wide, 12 districts don’t have school nurses, according to the Mississippi Department of Education. This includes 6 schools from Delta, and South and Central Mississippi. The nurse-student ratio is 1:11. In the national average the ratio is 1:750. In 2 years time, there is no nurse in Forest High School.

Principal Tim Moore, said "If we've got a child for example who has a serious health problem and something occurs in the classroom, that’s putting a lot on the teacher who is not a health care professional."

The district will conduct interviews to find a school nurse. Once the nurse is employed, she will be responsible to all 1500 students in the district. [via wjtv.com]