Within the various Wayne County School Districts, as well as regionally, there is a growing concern regarding a shortage of substitute school nurses.

Having a school nurse within each of the school buildings, for all of the districts in Wayne County, may be an afterthought for most; but having a substitute for those nurses (they’re allowed to miss work sometimes too) can be a difficult find for districts in need of fulfilling that contingency.

Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES and Wayne County Public Health have been actively trying to help Wayne County School Districts solve this problem by generating a per diem list of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who can fill in at schools across the county. The idea is simple: create a centralized list of qualified nurses that BOCES can employ/contract with for schools to access when needed.

However, there just hasn’t been enough of a response; and the lack of a qualified pool of nurses will put significant strain on districts in need of a substitute nurse to fulfill requirements.

Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES and Wayne County Public Health would like anyone interested to call the Wayne County Public Health Department at 315 946-5749, or by e-mail at WCPH@co.wayne.ny.us