MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS 



tions in the schools and advising teachers regarding the pedagogical 

 treatment of children in cases of fatigue and nervousness. 



"The nurses employed by the department of health have done good 

 work in visiting the homes of sick children, in giving advice and assistance 

 to mothers, and in looking after slight ailments in the school. The fact, 

 however, that they are under the control of an outside organization is a 

 constant hindrance to their work. It is another instance of the evil 

 effects which arise from dual control or divided responsibility. I risk 

 nothing in saying that the school nurses would do much more and better 

 work if they were made responsible to the educational authorities." 



Dr. Thomas F. Harrington, of the department of hygiene, 

 Boston, says* in speaking of the system of medical inspection by 

 physicians in the employ of the department of health: 



"The greatest criticism against this system of inspection is that 

 it lacks uniformity; that it excludes pupils, and does not provide any 

 means of 'follow up' nor any guarantee that the child will receive medical 

 care; that the duties of the inspector as an agent of the board of health 

 bring him in contact with much contagion in the homes; and finally, that 

 the dual duties and divided responsibility are not conducive to the best 

 in the health and efficiency of school children." 



Speaking of the work of the school nurses, he says: * 



" It does not seem possible to conceive a more satisfactory arrange- 

 ment, nor a more effective piece of school machinery, than nurses under 

 school supervision. With a corps of medical inspectors under this same 

 supervision, who would conduct a daily clinic in their respective school 

 districts, there are no problems connected with the health and efficiencv 

 of school children which could not be quietly, rationally, economically, 

 and effectually solved. Until such an organization is perfected in part 

 or in whole, little progress can result from the efforts to promote the health 

 and efficiency of our school children." 



The superintendent of schools of Boston in his twenty- 

 seventh annual report, July, 1907 (page 39), says in regard to 

 the Massachusetts law making medical inspection compulsory: 



"In this connection it should be stated that while the school physi- 

 cians were concerned solely with contagious diseases, they were properly 

 to be controlled by the board of health. Under the new law, the work 

 * School Hygiene, Sept., 1908, p. 21. 

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