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110
A personal interview in this way is far more successful than
any number of written notice-, and a very considerable proportion
of the cases which have been remedied can be attributed
to the visits of the Nurse, although in many cases two or even
more visits may be required before the necessary steps are
taken to have the defects remedied. In addition to this, the
Nurse gives instruction to the mothers in connection with the
treatment of minor defects, and shows how remedies, obtained
either from the hospital or doctor should be applied.
During the past year the Nurse paid over 600 visits to the
homes of children suffering from various ailments. With the
large number of children in our schools, three or four times this
number of visits are necessary, but such work takes time, and
one Nurse cannot possibly do more. I would strongly urge the
appointment of a second Nurse to cope with this, for it is one of
the most valuable parts of medical inspection. This appointment
need not be objected to on the ground of expense, because
the increased grant, owing to better attendance of scholars
would probably pay for this. At present in many instances,
children are excluded for long periods without receiving any
treatment at all. A visit by the Nurse in many cases ensures
that advice is obtained, and therefore the child sooner returns
to School.
In addition to this a number of visits were made in connection
with minor affections such as can usually be treated by
the mothers if the Nurse calls and gives them the necessary
instructions. Many cases of slight inflammation of the eyes or
eyelids, various skin affections in an early stage and other slight
ailments are often found at the inspection by the doctors and
directions are given to the Nurse who then visits and instructs
the mothers as to the treatment required. A cons derable
number of visits were made in connection with such cases.
Diseases and Defects found on Examination which have
been Remedied.— In all cases a printed Form is first sent to
the parents, calling their attention to the defects or diseases