Send nurses back to school
WEIGHING schoolchildren is not new (Mail). For more than 25 years, I was a school nurse in primary and secondary schools in Bristol, Brixton and Birmingham. My role covered all aspects of child health, ranging from vision and hearing tests, dealing with infectious diseases, vaccinations, bedwetting, teenage pregnancy, self-harming and drug abuse.
There were regular height and weight monitoring of all pupils, and those who were under or over the recognised chart measurements were noted for discreet observation and further investigation involving the family, GP and teachers. No child was singled out, but they all benefited.
What saddens me is the demise of the valuable contribution school nurses made. Despite being nicknamed Nitty Nora, we had access to all avenues of advice and intervention, from social services and the police to the housing department to hospital consultants. We had great responsibility, resulting in widespread respect earned by dint of hard work and an ethos gleaned from good general nursing training — long before wretched university courses ruined it all! Bring back school nurses and give them a free hand.
JENNIFER KENDRICK srn, dursley, Glos.