This 1978 paper provides school nurses with a conceptual framework for structuring their practice. In discussing each of the five concepts, the paper presents a definition, a rationale for its inclusion, and examples illustrating its applicability to school nursing practice. The five concepts are: public health, adaptation, helping relationships,…

Most research on access to health care focuses on individual-level determinants such as income and insurance coverage. The role of community-level factors in helping or hindering individuals in obtaining needed care, however, has not received much attention. We address this gap in the literature by examining how neighborhood socioeconomic…

Children in foster care face poverty, family dysfunction, neglect, and abuse, with high rates of chronic health, emotional, and developmental problems. This study compared the overall health status of a group of children entering foster care with a group of Medicaid-eligible children living with their parents, matched for age and gender. It…

Physical educators can play a significant role in promoting active lifestyles and lifelong fitness. Unfortunately, many physical education programs face the challenges of time limitations, affordability, and professional commitment. The purpose of this article is to describe a stretch-band fitness program offered to sixth-grade students. The…

This paper examined associations between mothers' work schedules and children's cognitive outcomes in the first 3 years of life for approximately 900 children from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. Both the timing and duration of maternal nonstandard work schedules were examined. Although…

The authors were asked to respond to the shortage of school psychologists from the perspective of the Division of School Psychology of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association (APA), and also chose to address the larger issue of the shortage and lack of accessibility of mental health services for children…

There is mounting evidence that employer-provided health insurance is an important factor in recruiting and retaining a competent and motivated direct support workforce within health and human services occupations. A review of the literature in this area, including new information related to the developmental disabilities field, is presented to…

School-based health centers are an integral part of the health care delivery system for low-income children. Medication adherence for these patients may be challenging because the student is often responsible for bringing home the prescription and receiving the instructions. This study assesses medication fill, initiation, and adherence rates…

In this article, the author discusses how physical education (PE) is being given less attention in schools, especially in the elementary level. The lack of physical activity is one of the reasons that lead to the increase in the number of obese children. School boards and administrators are making decisions to cut PE, thinking that it doesn't…

There is a federal law passed recently by U.S. President Bush and Congress that requires school districts to develop wellness policies and have them in place by July 2006. The wellness mandate, which was included in the Child Nutrition Act of 2004, requires all school districts which are participating in federal school meal programs to develop a…

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in premature births. Children born prematurely often present with complex medical conditions; some require a tracheostomy. Although many children with tracheostomies require assistance to achieve effective communication, speech-language pathologists may have limited information with respect to the…

This article presents 10 safety activities for children. Among others, car and bus safety activities helps children develop social and language skills as they simulate riding safely in a car or bus.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate retrospectively neonatal health and maternal background among a sample of children taken into custody and placed in foster care and to investigate the relation between medical and social risk in the neonatal period. Method: The data-linkage study combined two registries: the Finnish Medical…

This survey of 54 students with visual impairments (aged 8-23 years) who participated in a one week summer sports camp examined the opportunities they were given for self-determination at home, at school, with friends, for health care, and in physical education classes. The participants at all levels of visual impairment scored low in…

Should teachers teach the calculation of target heart rate to students? And when is it appropriate to engage students in the attainment of these heart rates during physical education class activities? The answers to these questions are not easy. One might be tempted to state a simple yes or no and to identify a specific age to begin using training…