TAMPA, Fla. — The Hillsborough County School Board will vote Tuesday on contracting a staffing agency to help fill open school nurse positions.

Hillsborough and other districts have been struggling to fill open positions in recent years, with Hillsborough Schools needing to assign one nurse to multiple schools to guarantee student coverage.

What You Need To Know

  • Nursing shortages are plaguing school districts statewide

  • Hillsborough Schools is assigning nurses to multiple schools in some cases to bridge gaps in staffing

  • The school board will vote Tuesday on funding to hire an outside staffing agency to fill open positions

  • The school district's goal is to have at least one school nurse staffed at each school across the county

Licensed Practical Nurse Ann Marie Forkel said three years ago, she was the only full-time nurse covering Maniscalco K-8 in Lutz, where she may treat 35 or more students in a single day.

“It was no lunch,” Forkel was sometimes leaving work crying and thinking at some point, “This is too much.”

Last school year, Maniscalco hired a full-time registered nurse, Maribel Irizarry, which helped lighten the unbearable load Forkel had been carrying, but other schools weren’t as lucky.

Some are now sharing school nurses, which means nurses are jumping from school to school on a daily basis.

“It can be really overwhelming,” said Forkel. “You know, for me, I’ve worked in the school district for 23 years, so for me to feel stressed, two years ago before Maribel joined us, I can only imagine how other nurses feel.”

The school board will vote Tuesday to approve funding for an outside nurse staffing agency to help fill open positions.  

The district says its goal is to staff at least one nurse at every school across the county.