NC House eases the requirements to be a school nurse to deal with staffing shortage
Staffing shortages could lead to changes in who is allowed to serve as a nurse in a North Carolina public school.
The N.C. House unanimously passed a bill on Thursday that would eliminate the requirement that school nurses have to be nationally certified. House Bill 382 would allow non-certified registered nurses who have at least two years of experience in a hospital or health clinic to serve as school nurses.
“This would basically expand the types of nurses that can work as employees in our schools,” said Rep. John Bradford, a Mecklenburg County Republican and one of the bill’s primary sponsors.
The bill now goes to the Senate.
Change requested by CMS
The legislation was requested by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system at a time when many schools in the state don’t have nurses. Schools often share nurses.
Bradford said nationally certified nurses are typically those who have a bachelor’s degree. He said the bill would open up eligibility to nurses who have two-year degrees and three-year diplomas.
Nationally certified nurses would be paid more than nurses who aren’t certified.
Two of the bill’s primary sponsors are registered nurses, including Rep. Carla Cunninham, a Mecklenburg County Democrat.
“We thought at this point in time we would look at how we could get a nurse in every school without pushing, pushing, pushing trying to get a bachelor’s of science nursing degree,” Cunninhgam said.
