From our Legislative Chair, Josh Landry MSN, RN, NCSN:
NMSNA has performed several surveys from August- November of 2024 assessing the number and location of National Certified School Nurses (NCSN) through the state, compensation and recognition for this certification from their districts, and the current pay system for nurses within their districts. We have collected this data to pursue legislation this year to have professional school nurses placed on an equitable, standardized level of compensation from the state for our vital professional role in student wellness. Ensuring that students are healthy, safe and ready to learn each day. We are pursuing an amendment to bills SB0001 2022 and HB0181 2023 to include wording that will place professional school nurses on the 3-tiered teacher payscale and national certification stipend that educators presently receive. This is to ensure that New Mexico remains competitive in retaining and attracting school nurses that are vitally important to our school communities. Please take some time to view the data on the infographic found under the ABOUT NMSNA tab of our home page or at the link below. If you would like to have your district data included please email NMSNA.Legislation@gmail.com .