Public School Nurse to Student Ratios: Does it Affect Absenteeism?

The demands for adequate nursing workloads in public schools have increased with special needs children in Arkansas. School nurses are a necessary component of student academic achievement and physical well-being. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects that nurse-to-student ratios have on absenteeism by providing a convenience sample questionnaire to Arkansas K-12 public school superintendents. The questionnaire has examined the relationship between school nurse ratios and school absentee numbers. A four-question survey was sent out to 233 Arkansas K-12 public schools using a QuestionPro survey. Superintendents were asked about their school district numbers for the 2020-2021 school year. Forty-seven (36.1%) out of 233 respondents partially completed the survey. Of the 47 respondents, 17 (7.2%) completed the survey. Seven (5.5%) provided information about their absentee rates in the 17 completed surveys. Out of the seven schools, the absentee rate was 2.9% to 51%. Data from each school district was examined for special needs children for the 2020-2021 school year and was found to have a 2%-18% rate. This study also examined the relationship of nursing ratios to school district numbers for the 2020-2021 school year. Out of the 13 schools that completed the survey, 61% of the schools did not have adequate nursing workloads at the 1:400 nursing ratio. Implications for this study were that the schools assessed have higher absentee rates and higher needed nursing ratios for the 2020-2021 school year. The schools that were found to have higher absentee numbers were the schools that require higher nurse-to-student 1:400 ratios. A recommendation for greater sampling numbers and the need for a more in-depth study of special needs children were examined