New research highlights role school nurses play in preventing chronic absenteeism

^{Knoo Lee}

In 2016, over 7 million U.S. children were chronically absent from school. Chronic absenteeism (i.e., missing at least 10% of scheduled school days) affects students’ health and academic performance. A study published in The Journal of School Nursing by School of Nursing PhD graduate Knoo Lee, PhD, RN, and faculty Camille Brown, PhD, Lauren Martin, PhD, and Barbara McMorris, PhD, explored school nurses’ experiences, perspectives and roles related to student absenteeism.

Findings highlighted the essential role that school nurses play in preventing chronic absenteeism. They have unique opportunities to identify and monitor students at risk for absenteeism. They can develop collaborative intervention plans with students, parents and school personnel before a chronic absenteeism pattern emerges or solidifies. For instance, the study revealed that students who have multiple partial-day absences often proactively seek out school nurses as a source of support, which puts school nurses in a unique position to identify such students as at-risk for chronic absenteeism.

“It is important for school nurses to have the supports to be able to address the issues that chronically absent students face,” says Lee. “Ensuring an adequate number of certified school nurses in schools is a start. School nurses need more support from school districts to respond to the myriad of individual, family, and systems-level challenges that chronically absent students face. School nurses and school districts can also work with key stakeholders including parents, community organizations, and health care providers to create a coordinated strategy for school health.”

Study authors conducted focus groups with 21 school nurses from urban, suburban and rural areas of Minnesota, in collaboration with the Minnesota Youth Sex Trading collaborative. Nurses identified several barriers and facilitators related to school absenteeism including students’ physical health, mental health, family circumstances, access to transportation, housing instability and food insecurity. Nurses described how undiagnosed, untreated, or uncontrolled mental health issues significantly contributed to absenteeism, and how families or school systems often inadequately addressed students' mental health concerns.