CMSD Schools

Being in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District has been more exciting than i expected.  Throughout this screening process I have had the opportunity to visit various schools throughout the Cleveland Area.  I have had both rewarding and challenging experiences so far.  I have learned quickly just how big of a challenge the Cleveland schools face everyday with the current layoff of their school nurses.  At one of our schools on a Friday screening day, i encountered a little kindergarten girl who was very shy and did not speak to anyone including her teachers and fellow classmates.  The teacher had asked our instructor to look at the student because she suspected the student may have a case of head lice.  She informed us that the student had a history of head lice in the past and that the child's living situation was not the best.  Our instructor took a look at the student and could tell right away that eggs were present on the child's neck and hair.  The hardest part of this situation was that the head lice was recurrent for the student.  Clearly the parents do not understand how to properly treat this and further teaching is required for the parents.  This specific school did not have their own school nurse, like the majority of the schools n the CMSD.  The nurses are only present in the schools to look over immunization records, which are needed on record for the state.  This experience demonstrated first hand how difficult and challenging public health nursing can be.  Not having enough school nurses for each CMSD schools poses serious health issues for students and places a great burden on faculty and administration in the various schools.