European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse There s More to school nursing than band aids and aspirin by Gary Pomeroy staff writer am Parker s co workers scoffed when she left her nursing Job at Ben Taub county Hospital in Houston 18 years ago to become a school nurse. Quot people told me i d be giving out band aids Quot Parker said. Quot after five minutes on the Job i found out that it was t True. Because children have Many other today the typical school nurse is a diagnostician health educator Counselor social worker child advocate epidemiologist medical and Community Liaison and provider of tender Loving care. And part Sherlock Holmes. Quot the biggest Challenge of my Job is determining children s True needs Quot said Parker who has been the nurse at the Pir Masens Germany elementary Middle school for three years. Quot you have to be a detective. A child with a headache May have a problem at Home or have had a fight with a peeling through the layers is a common skill among school nurses. Quot he May say stomachache but it May turn out that he s depressed. Because his grandmother went Back to the states and dad went to the Field Quot said Mary Jaessing Bamberg elementary school s nurse for the past four years. Quot i let them Lay Down and talk to them Quot said Parker whose practice includes 700 students. Quot i m a Safe place to go when they need to go elsewhere Quot wednesday is school nurse Day an event started by the National association of school nurses in 1977 to Honor the nation s 30,000 school nurses. The specially is the fastest growing of the 36 nursing a penalties said Beverly Farquhar executive director of Nash in Portland Maine the growth has coincided with expanded responsibilities of the specially. The potential need for real medical treatment could walk through the door at any time Quot sometimes you Are the primary medical source Quot Parker said. Quot parents will say go to the nurse and see if she thinks you should go to the doctor Quot i s4s Jim Derheim Heidelberg High school nurse Taura Bauernfeind Center discusses condoms with Karen Benson left and Alison Davis. The juniors both 16, Are peer instructors helping educate students about sexually transmitted i lie common excuses students use to visit the school nurse a headache a. A stomachache a 1 want to of Home a 1 Don t few Good a my Boyfriend does no to love me. A 1 missed breakfast a Quot Johnny do enl like me a the teachers on my Case some ailments Are difficult to detect through routine examinations. Damage is not always physical. Quot it is really hard to Deal with child abuse Quot Parker said. Quot Little ones May say an Arm hurts. Older ones have emotional in High school children retain the View that the school nurse is Quot a passport out to go Home Quot said Laura Bauernfeind Heidelberg Germany High school s school nurse for eight years. But As students get older they Quot can accept More responsibility for their health decisions than younger 1 students Quot said Bauernfeind. Quot mental health is one of the biggest things children need in High Bauernfeind meets with students individually to discuss such topics As sexual assault emotional and physical abuse and alcohol. She also organizes school campaigns for other teachers to use in classes. These topics Range from aids education to smoking cessation. Her contributions recently earned her the nurse of the year award for the overseas chapter of the National association of school nurses but she downplays the Honor saying that her satisfaction comes from the students. Quot one of the great things is seeing kids grow and overcome problems they had As ninth graders Quot she said in her 14 years As a Dodds nurse Bauernfeind has discovered one drawback Quot there Are not really enough hours in the note asthma drugs a must a Federal report concludes that 2,000 babies could be saved annually if mothers with asthma took medications to control their illness during pregnancy. The new report issued by the National health lung and blood Institute found that uncontrolled asthma during pregnancy is far More dangerous than taking asthma medications. Asthmatics who avoid asthma drugs during pregnancy have two to three times the risk of suffering Stillbirth As those who take the drugs according to the study. A a. plague persists a bubonic plague the Quot Black death Quot that killed millions of europeans in the 14th Century struck 10 americans in 1992, the Federal centers for disease control and prevention reports. All 10 recovered after being treated with antibiotics. An 11th american died of a different form pneumonic so plague. All 11 cases w occurred in Western a states cd said. Fleas were implicated As the source of infection in seven cases Domestic cats in two and a wild rodent carcass in one. The source of the other Case is of toothpaste mint Flavouring in toothpaste can trigger asthma attacks in some people who suffer from the condition doctors said. The Case of a 21 year old woman whose asthma flared after using mint Flavoured toothpaste was reported in Spain according to the journal of allergy and clinical immunology. It was the second known Case Blacks face kidney risks Blacks with a common Type of diabetes or with hypertension Are far More Likely to develop permanent kidney failure than Whites with the diseases new medical studies suggest. Permanent kidney failure causes 40,000 americans a year to need kidney dialysis or transplants at a Cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. Diabetes causes almost one third of those cases and High blood pressure nearly another third researchers said in the journal of the american medical association. Blacks were about five times More Likely than Whites to develop permanent kidney failure related to non insulin dependent diabetes the most common kind. Researchers said one possible explanation is that Blacks have an unidentified biological susceptibility to kidney failure. A from wire reports tuesday january 26, 1993 a the stars and stripes 17
