The State mandatory school health screenings were being completed at Fairbury Public Schools September 12th-14th. FPS nurse Becki Schmidt partnered with SCC Beatrice Nursing Students and Public Health Solutions Dental program to get these done. The State of Nebraska mandates that schools screen student in grades Kindergarten through 4th grade, grades seventh and tenth and any student that has transferred into the district this year. We also screened our Step Ahead Preschool students. The state requires the following screenings to be done: height, weight, BMI, vision, hearing and dental.
This partnership benefited both FPS and SCC students. FPS got their screenings done with very minimal loss of education time. SCC nursing students used the three days as a growth and development clinical rotation. The students had to observe the differences from the high school students vs the early elementary/preschool students, learn how to operate the hearing machine, do some blood pressures, and then fill out their observation paperwork. Many positive comments came from the SCC students as they were able to work one on one with the students. The SCC teachers also voiced how wonderful this rotation was for them and what a wonderful learning experience it was for the students.
Teachers at FPS were also very supportive of this way of screening as the students come by class and do not miss parts of academic time.
Partnering with PHS allowed not only for dental hygienist to screen the dental needs of the students but they also provided sealants and fluoride varnishes to those that had parental consent.
A big THANK YOU goes out to the SCC Students and Teachers, Public Health Solutions, and the FPS teachers and administration, and the staff that helped make the screenings successful!
