Henry Street Blues
SPS School Nurses Collective Bargaining Unit
SPS Professional School Nurses (PSN) Newsletter
The Beginning of School Nursing
School Nurse Beginnings
“In 1897, New York City hired 150 physicians to inspect students for contagious disease. They spent one hour each day identifying the various cases of head lice, impetigo and tuberculosis, sending afflicted children home with a note stipulating the pupil could not attend school. However, once home, the children continued to wander the streets and tenements. Their parents may not have received the note, or perhaps could not read it; sometimes they could not afford medical care. On any given day, thousands of children missed school.” (Hanink, E. http://www.workingnurse.com/articles/Lina-Rogers-the-First-School-Nurse (retrieved 4/23/2013))
Lillian Wald
Henry Street Settlement
Photograph courtesy of Henry Street Settlement.
Lilian Wald and Mary Brewster in their Henry Street Office, 1895.
Photograph courtesy of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York.
The three-story Federal style homes located on Henry Street comprise the Henry Street Settlement and Neighborhood Playhouse, one of the nation's first settlement homes founded in response to the miserable urban conditions faced by the poor as a result of rapid industrialization and increased immigration. Lillian Wald was a student at the Women's Medical College in New York when she was asked to organize a course of instruction in home nursing adapted to the needs of the immigrants living in New York City's Lower East Side. Wald discovered first-hand the squalid conditions in which many immigrants suffered, and in 1895, Wald created the Henry Street Settlement, determined to live among the poor to better provide a variety of volunteer services. Nursing was central to Wald's idea of neighborhood service, and she introduced the pioneering concept of "public health nursing," which placed medical care within the reach of the poor. By 1940, nearly 300 nurses worked from 20 branches throughout New York City. Wald's most innovative experiment was a "Public School Nursing Service" designed to increase school attendance by having Henry Street nurses provide care at public schools. This was so successful that the New York City Board of Health soon organized a public school nursing program, the first such service offered anywhere in the world.
The Henry St. Settlement and Neighborhood Playhouse, a National Historic Landmark, is located at 263-267 Henry St. and 466 Grand St. in New York City, NY.
Lina Rogers
Profiles in Nursing
Lina Rogers, the First School Nurse
Providing healthcare to keep kids in school
By Elizabeth Hanink, RN, BSN, PHN
On any given day, thousands of children missed school.
Something needed to change, and Lillian Wald of the Henry Street Settlement saw nurses as a possible solution. In October of 1902, one of her staff undertook a month-long experiment to see if nursing interventions could make a difference. For 30 days, Lina Rogers, RN, tended to the health of 10,000 students in four separate schools, and her efforts were an instant success. Within one month, the rate of absenteeism decreased drastically, and school nursing was well on its way as a distinctive and vital nursing specialty.
Supplies were sparse, and Rogers had to make do with conditions less than desirable. In one school, the ceiling of the assigned room — an unused broom closet — was too low to allow a person to stand. Radiators and window sills became dressing tables, and a discarded high chair doubled as a treatment table for eye cases.
Rogers and one helper tended to sick children who were no danger to others right at the school (think dressings for rat bites) and soon sent them back to class. They also identified children with disabilities that made learning impossible, like poor hearing and vision. A contagious condition would still cause a student’s dismissal, but the nurses followed up with family visits and used the time to teach hygiene and prevention.
Soon other nurses from Henry Street were visiting and educating families according to personalized treatment plans. Help came from community organizations for children who remained out of school not due to illness, but to lack of food or clothing. The nurses also sought out the many older children who stayed home caring for younger siblings while parents worked.
Within six months, absenteeism fell by 90 percent, and the school board agreed to supply funds for 27 nurses. By 1914, there were close to 400 nurses in the schools of New York City. Other towns followed quickly; Los Angeles hired its first in 1904.
Elizabeth Hanink, RN, BSN, PHN is a freelance writer with extensive hospital and community-based nursing experience.
Important Links:
In the Spotlight- Ann Vincel
Mondays- WOLF (Wonders of the Ozarks Learning Facility, located at Bass Pro Shop, for 5th grade only.
Tuesdays-AOE (Academy of Exploration), located at the Discovery Center for 5th grade.
Wednesdays- HSA (Health Sciences Academy) located at Mercy for 8th graders.
Thursdays-WINGS (Working with the Individual Needs of Gifted Students), located at Phelps school for 1st-8th grade.
In addition to the above programs, Ann is on call for the 3 G.O. C.A.P.S. (Greater Ozarks Centers for Advanced Professional Studies) programs, located at Cox North, SRC (Springfield Re-manufacturing) and E-Factory through MSU. Ann is on call for all of the School of Choice programs. This means she may visit several sites per day.
She oversees Immunizations, Chronic Health Conditions, Medications, Flu Clinics, field trips, scoliosis screenings and Health Fairs for all sites. The students in the HSA programs must have Tb skin tests and flu shots, per hospital policy.
Needless to say good organizational skills are a must for this job. Two challenges are preparing for numerous field trips, on average 2 per week at each site, and obtaining all immunizations for G.O. C.A.P.S., which pulls students from 10 different school districts.
Ann organizes this with laptop, 3 ring binders for each program. She must have access to a printer at every location. She has a "rolling office" to travel with her to each site.
To prepare for each site she has the following; 18 Epi-pens, 12 Epi-pen Jr's, 18 Benedryls, 13 1st aid bags, 10 medication and diabetes books and 19 staff information books.
Ann enjoys the educational part of teaching the students.
At WOLF she has presented Emergency Preparedness, 1st Aid, Wilderness 1st Aid and hands-on mock emergency scenarios. At AOE she has taught Emergency Preparedness, Communicable Diseases, Past and Present and The Science and Safety of Cooking.
For HSA she has taught, Communicable Diseases 101, including culturing the classroom, plating the cultures and identifying what grows, and of course Emergency Preparedness.
Ann may also have to meet with 2 principals, Mercy Liaison and staff, Discovery Center Director and staff, WOLF Director, community meetings and frequent meetings with Chamber of Commerce Administrative Coordinator for GO CAPS Program.
Ann says when teaching "get ready to watch the light bulbs pop on when talking with the Kids. It is amazing and truly the best part of all!"
She has to be open to what the day might throw at her but loves being with the great kids and staff that make these programs successful.
Thank You Ann for your passion and a job well done!!!