The Florida School Health Association (FSHA) was formed in 1983. Through the dedication and hard work of involved members, we have a great organization that will continue to grow and improve in the new millennium.

FSHA believes that the ability to learn at school is directly related to the status of the student’s health and that all children and youth have a right to have emergency health needs safely met while in the school setting.

Our Purpose

The purpose of the Association is to promote a comprehensive and coordinated approach resulting in improved school health programs in the state of Florida.

What FSHA Supports

Health Service

FSHA supports a registered nurse in every school; FSHA supports a nurse to student ratio of no more than 1:1500.

FSHA recognizes that with the financial resources available it may be difficult to achieve “one nurse to 1500 students” as an immediate goal and therefore recognizes the value of well trained, supervised health aides in schools. If health aides in every school should become the accepted minimum level of care then the following stipulations are recommended:

• Establish a budget for a school health training core curriculum for health aides.
• Establish a policy to assure adequate supervision and monitoring by RN’s is implemented with a ratio of no more than one school health nurse to five school health aides.

FSHA also recognizes the need for a team approach to School Health services. In addition to School Health nurses, the need for mental health services is critical. The team should include school social workers, school counselors, and school psychologists.

FSHA supports the Florida Kid Care Program and the need to continue to work toward full implementation of this program statewide. It is our understanding that several counties are still without a medical HMO provider and we support legislative efforts to provide all children with access to medical and dental care.

Health Education

FSHA supports funding for required comprehensive, coordinated health education programs in the classroom each year, PreK – 12 with developmentally appropriate integrated curriculum.

FSHA supports required physical education each year, PreK – 12.

FSHA supports comprehensive health education that includes tobacco, alcohol, and other drug prevention; intentional and unintentional injury prevention (violence prevention); nutrition, physical fitness, stress management, STD’s including HIV and teen pregnancy prevention; CPR and first aid; social and emotional health; personal health; disease control and prevention; and consumer health.

FSHA supports funding for ongoing, research-based, abstinence-based curriculum for 5th and 6th graders.

Training for School Health Nurses

FSHA supports appropriation of funding for training school health professionals and paraprofessionals to assure competency and safety in the delivery of health services in schools.

FSHA supports a core training curriculum as a requirement for all School Health nurses. A training budget will need to be established.

FSHA supports specialized training, made available through an appropriate training budget, for School Health nurses in serving medically fragile students.

FSHA supports the position that a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing be the entry level into School Health nursing practice, in anticipation of national certification.

FSHA supports funding for the continuous inservice training of health education teachers and physical education teachers.

FSHA supports the requirements that teachers of health education need to be certified in the field of health education for secondary schools, and that all physical education teachers be certified in the field of physical education.

FSHA supports the requirement for certification of adaptive physical education teachers for special students.

Public-Private Partnerships

FSHA supports Public-Private Partnerships to assist local school districts. However, many rural counties may well lack private enterprise to support such partnerships. Therefore State funding should be available to enhance the efforts of those counties without local resources.