KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — We have all heard of the school teacher shortage , but did you know there’s a shortage of school nurses as well? There is one nurse for every 2,500 students in Tennessee on average.
Many East Tennessee schools have their own dedicated on-site nurse or share a nurse with another nearby school. But in other areas of the state – some schools are not so lucky. State Representative Elaine Davis pushed through a bill this past session aimed at changing that.
School nurses like Karen Beatty, who works at Karns High School, takes care of all types of medical issues. Both she and fellow school nurse Kristin Hartley, who works at Heritage High School, said sometimes those issues are quite serious…