(WHDH) — 7News discovered many Massachusetts schools can’t hire nurses to keep their kids safe. 7’s Jonathan Hall explains this staffing shortage could be a matter of life or death- which actually played out in one Plymouth school.

“I was in shock.  I was in complete shock.  I didn’t believe it happened,” elementary school student Vincent Vernazzaro said.

One minute Vincent was drinking water – the next he couldn’t breathe.

“I was sitting at my desk. I was just drinking my water bottle.  I had the cap in my mouth and I accidentally swallowed it when i went to take a sip,” Vincent said.

The bottle cap was choking the Plymouth fifth grader. 

A teacher tried to give him the Heimlich maneuver – but it wasn’t working.

Then the school nurse took over.

“And I went right behind him, and I — it was as quick as can be. This is what you do,” school nurse, Luanne Nemes said.

“It was on the third time that she really pulled, and the cap came out and I was able to breathe.”

I was so happy that she did that, and I said to her, ‘you saved my life!'”  Vincent said.

“‘You saved my life, Miss Luanne!’  the way he said it, I was like, ‘oohhh.’ it was emotional for all of us,”  Miss Luanne said.

Vincent’s mom, Kellie, doesn’t want to think about what could have happened if Miss Luanne wasn’t there.

“When I think about school nurses, they really are the extension of keeping our kids safe.  And you might be interviewing me for a totally different reason if we didn’t have Miss Luanne,” Kellie Vernazzaro said.

But other Massachusetts schools are missing a Miss Luanne.

7News found more than 300 hundred school nurse positions remain open right now.  Cathryn Hampson of the Massachusetts School Nurse Organization says she’s never seen vacancies this high.

“You are staffed at potentially unsafe levels for the student population,”  Hampson said.

What’s causing the shortage?

State education officials blame a big wave of retirements and burnout from the pandemic.

They’re also seeing many school nurses move into hospital work.

“The salary is no comparison. You have to love what you do,” Miss Luanne said.

Nurses working in hospitals can earn more than $100,000 per year. 

The highest paid school nurses earn roughly $70,000. 

Miss Luanne says she’s not motivated by money. 

She likes the hours and enjoys connecting with her young patients when they’re not sick.

“I want to thank her.  And I’m very happy that she did that to me that day,” Vincent said.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is hoping ten million dollars can help *cure* this problem. That’s how much the agency is now spending on new recruitment.

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