TY - JOUR
T1 - Association of Presence of a School Nurse With Increased Sixth-Grade Immunization Rates in Low-Income Arizona Schools in 2014–2015
AU - McCullough, J. Mac
AU - Sunenshine, Rebecca
AU - Rusinak, Ramona
AU - Mead, Patty
AU - England, Bob
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019.
PY - 2020/10/1
Y1 - 2020/10/1
N2 - School nurses often play large roles in implementation of school vaccination requirements aimed at controlling the spread of communicable disease. We analyzed the association between the presence of a school nurse and school-level vaccination rates in Arizona. Using school-level data from Arizona sixth-grade schools (n = 749), we regressed average sixth-grade school-level immunization rates on presence of a school nurse (registered nurse [RN] or licensed practical nurse [LPN]) and school-level socioeconomic status (SES), controlling for other school- and district-level characteristics. Schools with a nurse had higher overall vaccination rates than those without a nurse (96.1% vs. 95.0%, p <.01). For schools in the lowest SES quartile, the presence of a school nurse was associated with approximately 2 percentage point higher immunization rates. These findings add to the growing literature that defines the impact of school nurses on student health status and outcomes, emphasizing the value of school nurses, especially in lower SES schools.
AB - School nurses often play large roles in implementation of school vaccination requirements aimed at controlling the spread of communicable disease. We analyzed the association between the presence of a school nurse and school-level vaccination rates in Arizona. Using school-level data from Arizona sixth-grade schools (n = 749), we regressed average sixth-grade school-level immunization rates on presence of a school nurse (registered nurse [RN] or licensed practical nurse [LPN]) and school-level socioeconomic status (SES), controlling for other school- and district-level characteristics. Schools with a nurse had higher overall vaccination rates than those without a nurse (96.1% vs. 95.0%, p <.01). For schools in the lowest SES quartile, the presence of a school nurse was associated with approximately 2 percentage point higher immunization rates. These findings add to the growing literature that defines the impact of school nurses on student health status and outcomes, emphasizing the value of school nurses, especially in lower SES schools.
KW - administration/management
KW - elementary
KW - health disparities
KW - immunizations
KW - quantitative research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85060699008&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1059840518824639
DO - 10.1177/1059840518824639
M3 - Article
C2 - 30669932
AN - SCOPUS:85060699008
SN - 1059-8405
VL - 36
SP - 360
EP - 368
JO - Journal of School Nursing
JF - Journal of School Nursing
IS - 5
ER -
