School nurse shortage impacts Durham students, teachers
The Triangle school district with the biggest shortage of nurses is hoping to fill a desperate need for staff on Friday.
Posted — UpdatedDurham Public Schools leaders are hopeful a job fair at the Minnie Forte Brown Staff Development Center will help address their current shortage. Right now, some schools are sharing nurses, which impacts the care available to students on any given day.
Durham currently has 25 open positions for school nurses. In comparison, of Wake County's 105 school nurse positions, only 20 are vacant. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is fully staffed with nurses.
Durham school leaders said, once the positions are filled, they'll be a lot closer to having one nurse per school.
"Nurses here in the school system are having to prioritize their caseload," said Tricia Howard, lead nurse for DPS. "They’re having to look at where the need is as far as providing the safe environment for those students and connecting with families."
The job fair runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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