School nurses play a crucial role in providing children with
health care, but they can also help students to stay caught up with their
education. Children with chronic medical conditions and other health-related
obstacles can maintain academic performance if they work with school nurses to
plan for inevitable school day interruption.
Common health problems in children, including asthma, attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder, and vision or hearing deficiencies, can cause students
to fall behind in their studies very early on. School health care providers
believe that being proactive about such challenges to learning can make a big
difference in keeping sick students caught up with their peers.
Asthma, a debilitating breathing disorder that is potentially fatal, is the most
chronic pediatric medical condition in the United States. Every year, asthma
attacks cause almost 1 million emergency room visits and 15 million missed
school days, according the the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Joyce McIntosh, school nurse at Orchard and wellness coordinator for the Jackson
School District in Missouri, frequently treats asthmatic students, and commented
on the panic that asthma brings. She says it's a face that's hard to forget.
"It's scary. They can have trouble just talking," McIntosh said. "A good
indication that they are having trouble with their breathing is they have a
desperate look in their face."
Jackson public school nurses have developed 133 Asthma Action Plans over the
last school year. These plans set goals and target treatment to eliminate
full-blown asthma attacks.
"If we keep them controlled, they won't miss a lot of class," said Courtney
McQuade, school nurse at Jackson?s North Elementary and Gordonville Attendance
Center.
McQuade says that health action plans require involvement and commitment from
all stakeholders ? health care providers, parents, teachers, students.
Sometimes, she said, parents refuse to cooperate. Often, she says, it boils down
to economic troubles with low-income families struggling to meet their
children's health care needs.
One Jackson family has two elementary school-aged children with vision problems.
The parents were trying to save enough money for the eyeglasses their children
need, and the district?s children?s foundation stepped in to help cover the
cost. McQuade said that the students finally got their glasses more than halfway
through the school year. ?That's a semester-plus bearing the weight of an
educational obstacle that should have been remedied long before,? McQuade said.
Despite the desire of most parents to help their children, McQuade said that
some parents just don?t want to get involved. "The best word I can come up with,
it is just neglect," the nurse said. "I hate to put that word on anybody, but
they simply have better things to do."
School nurses send home letters and make phone calls to try to get in touch with
parents. "We hound them, but ultimately it's the parents' choice if they want to
take the child to the doctor," McQuade said. In a few remarkable instances, the
Department of Social Services must be called.
The number of students who require health plan assistance varies from year to
year. In the 2009-2010 school year, 61 of 68 Jackson School District students
with vision screening deficits, nearly 90 percent of students, were referred for
professional evaluation, down from the previous year when 74 of 79 students with
vision deficits were referred, about 94 percent. In the 2009-2010 school year,
35 of 39 students in Jackson?s schools were referred for professional hearing
evaluation. The previous year, 2008-2009, 15 of 19 students were referred.
Jackson health services officials believe that screenings and action plans are
helping to cut down on the number of students facing health-related obstacles to
their education.