Anchorage schools adopt regional nurse model, will pull nurses from schools with fewer medical needs

Anchorage School District will deploy nurses differently next school year.

The shift responds to a nursing shortage and repeated uncovered absences that have left some schools without medical staff.

Every school will have an assigned anchor nurse. Schools with fewer medical needs may go without coverage when nurses are reassigned to schools with students who need tube feedings, diabetes management, or doctor-ordered treatments.

Kathy Bell, Healthcare Services Director for Anchorage School District, said the model prioritizes coverage for students with the most complex medical needs. "What we're placing the most weight on when determining acuity are treatments ordered by a doctor or a medical authority," Bell said.

The district will serve 75 non-charter schools with 78.5 school-based nurses.

When a nurse is absent and no substitute is available, the district will pull a nurse from a school with fewer medical needs to cover a school with more complex cases.

Deputy Superintendent Sven Gustafson said the district recorded 17 nurses absent on some days this year. "If you are a principal of a West High that has seven diabetic kids and three tube feedings and stuff, and that nurse is gone, and we have that across up to 17 schools in one day, we can't cover everything," Gustafson said. "But this model will cover those kids that have those drastic needs."

The district will assign a regional lead nurse in each of the six regions. Each lead will receive approximately $4,000 in additional pay.