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(AP) -- The National Association of School Nurses calculates the nurse-to-student ratio for each state. Federal guidelines recommend that schools employ one nurse for every 750 students. But the national average is one nurse for every 1,151 students.
Utah's numbers are even worse -- one nurse to 3,000 students or more. In the same boat are Hawaii, Michigan, North Dakota and Oklahoma.
Across the country, schools are cutting back on nursing staff or requiring nurses to work at multiple locations. And that's leaving teachers and other staff with some of the responsibilities.
It comes at a time when more students are dealing with serious medical conditions such as severe allergies, asthma and diabetes.
One North Carolina schoolteacher says if she had wanted to be a doctor or nurse, she would have gone to school for that.
A quarter of the schools in the country don't have a nurse.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
