l Tooele mother Paula Tuck continues to collect petition signatures and has been joined by other interested volunteers from across the state. Their goal: to try to get a nurse in every school. Contact Tuck at 435-843-9400.

l Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley City, is sponsoring a bill in the 2006 Legislature that would create a task force to look at the school nursing shortage and come up with solutions. In the meantime, over the next few months, Mayne is looking into emergency appropriations to get more nurses immediately.

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A Tooele mother's petition drive aimed at getting more nurses in schools has drawn a state lawmaker's support.

Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley City, said Wednesday he will ask the 2006 Legislature for $50,000 to create a task force to study Utah's school nursing shortage. He also may ask for interim funds to temporarily hire more nurses while the task force completes its work.

Mayne agrees with Paula Tuck that the lack of nurses is a problem requiring immediate action. Tuck, a mother of five, has collected 1,800 signatures from Utahns who say they would pay more in taxes to get a nurse in every school.

Tuck launched the drive earlier this month after her 10-year-old daughter accidentally overdosed on an asthma medication at school.

According to the National Association of School Nurses, Utah ranks last in the nation, with one nurse to every 5,834 students. The national average is one school nurse for every 1,461 students.

"The issue of school nurses and the safety and health of children is being swept under the carpet," Mayne said. "It's reprehensible to me.

Parents such as Tuck must demand a change because the cost to fund a nurse in every school would be hundreds of millions of dollars, he said. Tuck is determined.

"I am not complaining, I am standing up and screaming that we need a change," she said. "Parents need to know that our students are not safe in schools in the event of an emergency medical situation."

Tuck is not the first to see a need for more nurses.

Even before Tuck raised the issue, Mayne was meeting and working with the Utah School Nurses Association and the Utah chapter of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

The groups formed a coalition over legislation allowing students to carry diabetes medicine with them at school.

Pat Fender, an AFT field representative, sees a lack of properly trained medical staff at schools to manage health care.

"Somehow these kids' needs need to be met," she said.

enardi@sltrib.com