Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

School nurses in Las Vegas get $10,000 bonuses to handle COVID-19 duties

Drive Thru COVID-19 Test at Orleans

Wade Vandervort

Clark County School District nurse Megan Ryan speaks to media during a walk-through of a drive-thru COVID-19 test site at The Orleans parking garage, Monday, May 4, 2020.

The Clark County School Board has approved $10,000 bonuses for school nurses performing coronavirus-related tasks like testing, contact tracing and helping administer vaccines.

Many school nurses have already been performing such duties during the pandemic, along with routine work like tracking the medical history of students, administering medicine and responding to medical emergencies.

"Our list of roles and responsibilities is over 17 pages long before the pandemic,” said Gail Morin-Milburn, a nurse who travels to schools across the valley.

The extra money for “special procedure nurses” will come in the form of four $2,500 stipends paid out in April, July, November and March. Part-time nurses will get $5,000 in increments of $1,250.

There are about 197 nurses in the School District, said Linda Cavazos, president of the School Board.

"I hope it's just one step toward showing our appreciation," said Danielle Ford, a member of the board, which on Thursday approved the payments.

The stipends are part of an agreement between the School District and the Clark County Education Association. As part of the agreement, special procedure nurses will also get personal protective equipment at no cost, including N-95 masks, face shields, gloves and surgical gowns.

The nurses will manage sick rooms for students with COVID-19 symptoms, administer rapid coronavirus tests, assist with vaccinations and help facilitate contact tracing.

Before voting to approve the payments, the board listened to at least an hour of public comments in support of the nurses.

In a written comment, parent Penelope Powers praised school nurse Charlene Melton for helping her son. "She took the time to explain her role and how she would provide ongoing guidance and care for his medical needs during the school day, assuaging our many fears," Powers said.

A student, whose name was redacted from School Board documents for privacy reasons, also wrote about Melton. "Without her availability, guidance and support, I would not be able to attend high school because of my disability," the student wrote in an email to the board.

After the meeting, school nurse Sharissa McGlynn said she was overwhelmed by the showing of support.

"It was just very, very heartwarming. We do this job and we all love our jobs,” she said. “It's really nice to get that feedback.”

A number of nurses attended Thursday’s School Board meeting at Las Vegas High School wearing stethoscopes around their necks and T-shirts with a twist on the Superman logo — the S was replaced with an RN.

Morin-Milburn said she was a little nervous before board members held up their green paddles that said "yes," approving the stipends.

"Whenever money's involved, you always worry. We had a lot of support through the union; we know we have support through CCSD. To me it was more of a formality. But we came out to support our union and to support our district," Morin-Milburn said.