ERIC Number: EJ1439395
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Oct
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1059-8405
EISSN: EISSN-1546-8364
School Nurse Staffing in Texas Alternative High Schools: A Mixed Methods Exploration
Journal of School Nursing, v40 n5 p491-503 2024
School nurses represent cost-effective investments in students' health and educational success. Alternative high schools (AHSs) serve an understudied population of youth who are at risk for school dropout and face numerous social inequities, heightening their risk for poor health outcomes. In this two-phase explanatory sequential mixed methods study, we examined school nurse staffing in Texas AHSs. Findings suggest Texas AHSs face understaffing for familiar reasons common across districts (e.g., lack of funding), but also reveal potential deeper inequities. Quantitative findings indicate 71% of Texas AHSs have some form of nursing support, most often an on-call or part-time nurse. Qualitative findings support and enrich this finding with insights into the negative consequences of not having a full-time nurse, indiscriminate approaches to staffing AHSs, and how AHSs can be the only school in the district without a full-time nurse. Altogether, our findings reveal opportunities to better support AHSs with adequate nursing support.
Descriptors: School Nurses, Nontraditional Education, At Risk Students, Child Health, Financial Support, Educational Equity (Finance), Social Bias, High Schools, Charter Schools, Public Schools
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (DHHS/PHS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Texas
Grant or Contract Numbers: 1R03DA04526801