«The circumstances that occur in the day-to-day life of schools are so varied that often a healthcare response is needed, urgent and rapid, which can be provided by the school nurse,» defended the general secretary of the CGE, Diego Ayuso, on Wednesday during a press conference.
The School Nursing Observatory of the General Council of Nursing recorded in 2022 that schools in Spain had around 1,800 nurses, a number that has increased in recent years, as in 2025 there were about 2,929 nurses for eight million students. However, they believe this number is insufficient compared to other European countries.
«In the European Union, there is an approximate average of 750 students per school nurse, while in Spain there are 6,368 students per school nurse. Therefore, we still have a long way to go. The ratio or the nurse-student relationship in our country is still very insufficient,» he emphasized.
The CGE assures that the goal, for now, is not to reach the European average, but to gradually implement this figure. «Obviously, we are not aiming to suddenly reach the European ratio, just as we do not aspire to have 100,000 more nurses in our country, it is unrealistic. A nurse takes four years to train in a university degree, so we must plan today to see results in five or ten years,» explained the general secretary of the CGE.
Therefore, the Council calls for the development of a national law to regulate the competencies and the figure of school nursing, as well as the development of an accreditation diploma for these professionals. «We ask politicians for a national regulation for which an accreditation diploma in School Nursing is very necessary, which would define very well the competencies and the training itinerary that a nurse must have to practice in an educational center,» highlighted Ayuso.
In this sense, the general secretary of the CGE has announced that they have already presented their proposal to the Ministry of Health and that the goal is to hold a monographic meeting on the school nursing law.
«We advocate for a model in which nurses dedicate their entire day to educational centers with a focus on health promotion, disease prevention, and the acquisition of healthy lifestyle habits,» Ayuso pointed out.
CANTABRIA ONLY HAS 4 SCHOOL NURSES
For the Council, the data presented reflects that the figure of the school nurse is insufficient in many autonomous communities. For example, Cantabria only has four nurses for every 89,787 students; the Basque Country has 10 nurses for 363,716 students, and Asturias has seven nurses for 129,015 students.
Autonomous communities such as Andalusia, Murcia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and Catalonia do not have an exclusive school nursing figure in educational centers, but rather sporadic reinforcements from Primary Care.
«From the CGE, we advocate for a model in which nurses dedicate their entire day to educational centers with a focus on health promotion, disease prevention, and the acquisition of healthy habits,» Ayuso affirmed.
At this point, Ayuso highlighted the role of the Community of Madrid, which has 1,000 school nurses: «The autonomous community with the best ratio is Madrid with 1,000 nurses. It is truly appreciable that there has been a stronger commitment. Additionally, the hiring is 100% dedicated to caring for children in schools, meaning they are not hired from Primary Care and only dedicate a few hours in educational centers.»
