Nurses report more chronic conditions and vaping-linked asthma rise at Craven County high schools

Nurse leader (presenting the district’s required annual health report) told the Craven County Board of Education on Sept. 16 that school nurses and social workers are seeing increased chronic health needs and changes in patterns of injuries and clinic encounters.

The presenter said chronic conditions are concentrated in three categories—“the number 1 chronic health condition is asthma, and the second is ADD/ADHD, and the third is our autism population of students.” She said asthma diagnoses are appearing more often among high school students and linked that rise in part to vaping: “we are seeing data that showed an increase in asthma in our high school population.”

The nurse reported the district had more than 76,000 school nurse encounters in 2024–25, up from about 70,000 the previous year. Of the roughly 76,000 encounters, about 4,600 resulted in the student being sent home; the presenter said approximately 95% of encounters resulted in students remaining in school. By comparison, the presenter said the state benchmark for students remaining in school after a nurse visit was 85%.

On injuries, the report noted fewer head injuries than in a prior year—79 last year versus 154 the year before—and attributed the reduction to targeted school-level safety actions. The most common locations for head injuries were PE (30), playground (19) and classroom (13); sprains/strains and suspected fractures were the other leading injury types.

The nurse described the broader caseload for school nurses: they participate in 504 and IEP meetings, manage chronic conditions and medically fragile students, coordinate with child nutrition for students with special mealtime needs, provide health education that builds student self-management (for example, asthma inhaler technique and diabetes skills), and act as case managers for families with multiple needs.

Board members asked about mental-health indicators. The nurse said the district’s annual health-report form captures mental‑health information and that many students with underlying mental-health needs present first with physical complaints (headaches, stomachaches) in the nurse’s office. She reported the district saw more school-based suicide attempts in the elementary grades last school year than in middle or high school and said nurses are involved when students present with suicidal ideation or attempts.

The board did not take action on the report; it was informational. The presenter recommended continuing support for school-based nursing and social-work services as a core strategy to keep students healthy and in class.