HR0817 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0817 LRB102 27172 MST 38721 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, School nurses are the healthcare experts in schools and are often the only healthcare provider that many students encounter; and

WHEREAS, School nurses have demonstrated their essential role in the school system as they mitigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; and

WHEREAS, School nurses have been on the front lines of bridging health care and education, providing care coordination, and advocating for quality student-centered care; and

WHEREAS, Students turn to the school nurse for both physical and emotional safety needs; and

WHEREAS, School nurses are often the first to identify a medical issue that is impacting a student's learning; and

WHEREAS, School nurses promote access to services in underserved communities, often times not only providing services to individual school children but also serving as a resource to students and families in addressing social determinants of health such as homelessness; and

WHEREAS, According to the National Survey on Children's Health, 40% of school aged children have at least one chronic health condition, which are often discovered and managed daily by school nurses; and

WHEREAS, There are no requirements for school districts to employ school nurses, and therefore, the hiring requirements and parameters around the roles of school nurses vary widely; and

WHEREAS, This lack of formalized hiring practices and parameters equates to a lack of information about schools that hire school nurses, such as how school nurses are utilized and the number of schools that school nurses are required to oversee; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois State Board of Education provides oversight to schools in Illinois and already collects data from these schools; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois State Board of Education has a department that focuses on coordinated reporting, data collection, data implementation sharing, and analyzing data for policy and strategic planning; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the vital role of school nurses in providing health care to the students of Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois State Board of Education to partner with the Illinois Association of School Nurses to complete a School Nursing Capacity Study in Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we recommend that the School Nursing Capacity Study in Illinois should include, but not be limited to, ascertaining who is providing health care to school children in Illinois schools, determining credentials of the nurses currently providing care, determining the number of schools in which each nurse is required to provide healthcare services in each school district, and determining what policies are in place to provide healthcare services and by whom if a school nurse is not present in the building; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we recognize that the purpose of this study is to provide more in-depth data with the overall goal of utilizing the data to develop a model for healthcare services provided in schools that can address specific needs of each community, focusing on students that do not have access to care outside of the schools; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois State Board of Education to report its findings to the General Assembly no later than January 10, 2023.