As it is at present organized, the Division handles inspection for
contagious disease, inspection for physical and mental defects,
follow-up work for the remedying of defects, health instruction,
recommendation of children to schools for the physically and mentally
handicapped, school lunches, gardens, and playgrounds.
Either the nurse or physician reports at each school every day of the
year. Once during the year each child is given a careful physical
examination, and further examinations are made when they are needed.
All serious defects are reported to parents, and in cases where
treatment is important, parents are urged to consult with the school
doctor concerning the nature of the difficulty and the best means
of curing it. To supplement these interviews, the school nurse spends
a large part of her time in visiting homes, talking with parents,
noting conditions under which children live, and making suggestions as
to home care.
[Illustration: Either doctor or nurse visits every school every day.]
Some idea of the complexity of this work may be gained from the
Division records for 1914-1915. From the beginning of September to the
end of June--a period of 38 school weeks--doctors and nurses examined
74,725 children; gave private interviews to 2,547 parents; made 5,675
visits to dispensaries; 10,603 visits to homes; and gave 76,240
treatments and dressings. In addition, they gave 775 toothbrush
drills, and 19,406 individual or class health talks to the pupils of
the public schools during the year.