School Nurse Job Satisfaction, Provision of Health Education, and Student Attendence

School nurses have a large scope of practice (American Nurses Association [ANA] & National Association of School Nurses [NASN], 2011). However, school administrators often misunderstand, and therefore under appreciate, the school nurses\u27 role (Junious et al., 2004). In addition, few schools meet the 1 :750 nurse to student ratio recommended by the NASN and the ANA (2011); high nurse to student ratios negatively affect school nurses\u27 job satisfaction (Maughn & Adams, 2011). Several studies found that interventions by the school nurse positively impacted students (Bonauito, 2007; Denny et al., 2012), while others have linked the presence of a school nurse with improved attendance (Pennington & Delaney, 2008; Telljohann, Dake, & Price, 2004). The current study surveyed nurses working at schools in Illinois, and adds to this body of research by examining the relationship between the time school nurses spend on classroom health education and their job satisfaction as well as the correlation between classroom education, job satisfaction, and student attendance. School nurses were more satisfied when they made more visits to the classroom for health education, and when they thought that students received adequate health education from the school nurses. School nurses who served higher numbers of students were less likely to think that students received adequate health education. Attendance rates were not significantly correlated with nurses\u27 job satisfaction or number of classroom visits. This results suggest that when nurse are able to practice to the extent of their education, they are more satisfied with their jobs, and feel like they are able to impact students