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10
suffering from gland trouble, to see that the directions
given are carried out, and that the child is having a fair
chance of recovery.
I may be permitted here to give an outline of the
work done by the School Nurses. The Committee appointed
a second nurse early in the year, so that we have
now two trained nurses at work. Each morning they are
in attendance at the School Clinic engaged in either the
Minor Ailments Department or the Dental Department as
the occasion may be. At the Minor Ailments they are
dressing and attending to skin conditions and sores upon
the children, washing and applying remedies to eye conditions
and syringing discharging ears, together with
other minor ailments, under the direct supervision of the
Assistant School Medical Officer. On the morning and
afternoon of the Dentist's visit one is present with the
child in the Dentist's room whilst the other is looking
after the general welfare and comfort of the little patient
after extraction. They are similarly occupied in rendering
services to the children and the Ophthalmic Surgeon
on the occasion of his visit once a fortnight. During the
afternoons not engaged at the Clinic on these duties,
they visit the schools for the purpose of examining the
children for cleanliness. Each nurse has her own set of
schools to attend to, and they have visited each department
at least four times in the school year, and examined
every child for cleanliness of person and clothing.
By this constant attention we have succeeded in reducing
the number of verminous cases to a considerable
extent. Indeed, the great majority of such cases are
what may be termed "old offenders"—appearing time
after time with unblushing regularity. No sooner are
they clean than, through sheer want of attention to
cleanliness, they return to school in the same condition.
The nurses are also engaged in visiting cases of skin
diseases that have been excluded from school, and should
be in attendance at the Clinic. Every child is told to return
upon a certain day for continuous treatment until
recovered and fit to return to school. Many of the elder