Spain has 1,270 school nurses that dedicate 100% of their workday to the care of students in educational centers. This translates into a ratio of one for every 6,368 students, far from the average of the European Union, which is located in one professional for every 750 students.
To reach European figures, our country would need 9,512 more school nurses, according to the data provided by the general Nursing Council (CGE) to El Español-Invertia. This would mean multiply by 7.5 the current number of professionals.
It is an elevated figure and the collegiate body is aware of it. “The implementation of this figure would have to be done gradually. It must be understood that the formation of nurses takes time and, therefore, it is needed long -term planning“Diego Ayuso, general secretary of the CGE, has pointed out.
The ultimate goal is that Each school has a nursing professional. Among the possibilities of action of this figure are health education, the acquisition of healthy habits or the care and monitoring of students with chronic pathologies.
“We ask that there be a school nurse in all educational centers in Spain and also a norma that regulates this figure, “Ayuso added during the presentation of the results. This regulation should be at the national level and would serve to define the competences and the formative itinerary that a nurse must have to exercise in an educational center.
Regional differences
The General Nursing Council considers “necessary” to address with “urgent character” the implementation of this figure throughout the national territory, taking into account public, concerted and private centers.
To do this, he claims the Coordination of the Central Administration and the Autonomous Communities. An organization that now does not exist and has as a consequence and implementation unequal of this figure among the different autonomous communities.
-In fact, the data presented reflect that the number of school nurses in many regions is insufficient. For example, Sneaky It only has four nurses for every 89,787 students; the Basque Country It only has 10 professionals for 363,716 students, or Asturiaswhich has seven nurses for 129,015 students.
On the opposite side are communities such as Madridwhich is where the figure of the school nurse is most widespread, as Ayuso stood out. Specifically, there are 1,000 professionals for every 1,210 students. In addition, in this autonomy the school nurse is exclusive to educational centers.
Map of school nurses in Spain.
This same situation also occurs in Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Basque Country, Castilla y León, Aragón, La Rioja and Castilla-La Manchaalthough the ratios are equally different. For example, in the community presided by Emiliano García Page there is a nurse for 7,092 students, while in La Rioja there is one by 2,201 students.
The exclusivity of the nurse’s work in an educational center does not occur throughout the territory. Catalonia, Valencian Community, Murcia, Andalusia, Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands They have school health programs from primary care. That is, they do not dedicate 100% of their day in schools.
These latest regions mentioned have 1,659 school nursesHowever, the CGE does not include them in the calculation of the Spanish ratio, since they are not exclusively in educational centers.
For its part, Ceuta and Melilla They also have a ratio similar to that of Madrid. In the first case, there is a nurse for every 1,204 students, while in Melilla there is a professional for 1,043 students.
