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Show '.WW & . , ..A ' . - , y . r : PUBLIC HEALTH NURSES By ROSELYN KIRK FARMINGTON - Davis County public health nurses not only provide school nursing services, but also supply skilled nursing for the homebound as well as supervising clinics that deal with such varied health needs as dental services, immunization and the well-child checkups. ACCORDING TO Dolleen Jewett, administrator ad-ministrator of public health nursing services ser-vices in Davis County, the 15 public health nurses work with a variety of ages from early childhood care, and infant development develop-ment programs to counseling and teaching senior citizens how to supply their own health care needs. Many of the duties revolve around counseling and teaching, Mrs. Jewett said. In the case of home visits, which could include patients from any age group, nurses teach the family how to care for the patient in the home, developing develop-ing nursing skills. OR IN THE case of infant development program which deals with the child who has neurological damage which interferes with normal growth, the nurses work with infants or children to develop their abilities abili-ties as much as possible. The early childhood program requires the specialization of four nurses who work with these children from birth to age three when some are placed on the early childhood program at Monte Vista School. OTHER PREVENTION and education programs are carried on through the schools and through the health clinics. Mary Meredith, one public health nurse, explained that her duties include the Family Planning and Venereal Disease Clinic on Thursday afternoon, as well as providing health counseling at the Golden Years Center in Bountiful. She is a school nurse at five schools during half of the duy. , Mrs. Meredith follows through on patients pa-tients who are identified by physicians and lab reports as having VD. While all information is confidential, Mrs. Meredith said it's essential that carriers be interviewed and their contacts be identified for treatment so the disease can be kept under control. VD IS THE leading communicable disease and has become a growing problem in the county, Mrs. Meredith said. In many instances the problem is treated as a moral rather than a medical problem. In addition to investigative work, Mrs. Meredith lectures to high school students and other groups on VD so they are aware of the signs and symptoms. symp-toms. When tests show that a patient is positive, posi-tive, he is referred to clinics in Suit Lake City and Ogden for treatment as a VD clinic is not available in Davis County. Mrs. Meredith said. The highest incidence in-cidence rate is among those 24 years or younger. She has participated in training sessions to prepare her for obtaining the necessary confidential information. THE WORK with senior citizens involves in-volves mostly health counseling at the centers, Mrs. Meredith said. Many older people are hesitant to talk with their families about problems and require guidance from a nurse. Many abuse June Anderson, public health and school nurse also works at the immunization clinic located in the county health department in the basement of the county courthouse. Jereme Byington and his mother Kari watch. directions for medication and many decide by themselves to quit taking medication if they feel it is unnecessary. Each needs to talk to the nurse individually in-dividually so they can open up and talk about the way they feel, according to Mrs. Meredith. In addition to her other duties, Mrs. Meredith also works as a school health nurse at Crestview, Layton and Meadowbrook Elementary schools, as well as at Bountiful Jr. High and View-mont View-mont High School. MRS. JEWETT said that public health department contracts with the schools to provide services to school children half day. The nurse works with the school resource team, which includes a psychologist, a social worker, a communications com-munications disorder specialist, a resource teacher and the principal, in addition to the school nurse. While at the schools, nurses like June Anderson, who goes to Centerville Junior High on Wednesday morning, talks to students about such health problems as nutrition. On Wednesday, Mrs. Anderson was giving direction to a student who needed to lose weight. 'The most important impor-tant thing is for her to feel good about herself," she said. AFTER THAT appointment, Mrs. Anderson An-derson planned to visit a home where a student had been home for several days with swollen glands. Often she checks students' eyes when they are having trouble reading. Mrs. Anderson spends four hours in school before she leaves to spend some time with handicapped children who participate in special services ser-vices at the Monte Vista School in Far-mington. Far-mington. She will also make home visits during the day to kids who are ill and to check in with parents on school health problems. "1 love school nursing," Mrs. Anderson said. "It allows me to wear so many hats." A school nurse in Davis County for 25 years, Mrs. Anderson has fel lowed one woman through treatment since she was a young girl, making sure that she continues con-tinues to follow the proper medication schedule. IN ADDITION to visiting students at Centerville Junior High, Mrs. Anderson also sees students at Centerville Elementary, Elemen-tary, Tolman Elementary, at the Early Childhood Center at Monte Vista and at St. Olaf's School in Bountiful. In addition to their other duties, public health nurses also give immunizations at the clinics on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and assist Dr. Richard Johns at the Well Child Clinic on Tuesday at the County Health Department. TWO HOME health nurses provide bedside nursing for the homebound, but at times the other public health nurses help with home health if the schedule is loo full. They visit patients at home twice a week if necessary. If the patient requires constant care, homemaker service ser-vice or an aid is requested since the county can't provide constant nursing service, Mrs. Jewett said. These nurses make about four or five visits a day. Nurses also assist in the Family Planning Plan-ning Clinic, recommend dental services and run the Women's Infants and Child (WIC) basic food supplement program for pregnant women and children under five. |
