The passing of Senate Bill 12 in Texas has forced many school nurses to refuse medical service, even as simple as a Band-Aid, without signed parental consent.
The bill, which was introduced due to concerns of students being provided treatment without parental permission, passed on June 20. While much of the state government celebrated the passing, many school health officials have raised concern over the bill.
“When you write such a strict enforcement mechanism into a law, people are going to take notice,” Becca Hawford, Executive Director of the Texas School Nurses Organization said. “Now you’ve got nurses who are questioning if they can put a basket of Band-Aids on their countertop.”
Hoping to clear things up, Representative Jeff Leach, one of the three authors of the bill, made a statement on social media in response to concerns.
“While we expect our educators to comply with the clear provisions of the bill, we also expect them not to suspend common sense when it comes to providing basic care for the children at their schools,” Leech said.
However, not everyone found this clarification helpful with some seeing it as detached from the real issue created by the bill.
“They want us to use common sense,” Hollie Smith, Director of Health services at Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD, said. “Of course, we’re happy to use common sense, but the question always is, is my license in jeopardy? And that’s where a lot of… our nurses are trying to practice…right now and feeling really uneasy.”
In Beaumont TX, parents have felt the need for parental permission. Camilia Sanjavier, a Beaumont mother, was surprised to pick up her crying child. After the school called her to check out her son , Oswaldo Sanjavier, they informed her that they could not clean the vomit off of him as she had not signed the waiver. Sanjavier thought she signed all of Oswaldo’s paperwork, but the nurse’s office did not have evidence of it.
“Whether or not you’re allowed to give medical care to a child, they could have handed him a paper towel, told him to clean himself up,” Sanjavier said. “At the end of the day, it is your responsibility, and it is your duty to serve parents and children in an appropriate manner.”
