Perspectives on health of school-age children: expectations for the future

Health perceptions and behaviors of school-age boys and girls

This study described and compared the health perceptions and behaviors of 83 school-age boys and girls. An age-appropriate interview schedule was designed to collect data related to demographic characteristics, health perceptions, safety, life-style practices, nutrition, dental health, and care of minor injuries. Findings indicated that most boys and girls viewed themselves as healthy and managed their own care fairly well in the areas of seat belt use, exercise, and dental health. Nutrition was identified as an area of concern, with 10% of the children skipping breakfast, and over half eating snacks with empty calories. Generally, children were found to be knowledgeable in the management of simple injuries and how to respond in the event of an emergency. Boys and girls were similar in all areas of health perceptions and behaviors except for dental health, with boys reporting more regular visits to the dentist than did girls. Further research is needed to learn more about the process by which school-age children acquire positive health behaviors to assist nurses to design and implement intervention programs that appropriately address the needs of this age group.

The role of school nursing in the united states

Changes in the health care needs of American children over the past two centuries have engendered school health programs. Issues related to the role and responsibilities of school nurses within these programs have existed from the beginning. Current societal pressure for schools to assume even greater responsibility for providing health care has necessitated a precise definition of these roles and responsibilities. The purpose of this article is to review existing literature related to school nursing in this country and to describe the results of a study documenting state mandates for health education programs and the role of nurses within these programs.

Residents' perception of their skill levels in the clinical management of adolescent health problems

Residents in six specialty training programs completed a 126-item questionnaire designed to assess their skill or confidence to manage adolescent health issues. The residency programs studied were family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, and combined medicine/pediatrics. Although almost three-fourths of the residents were at least moderately interested in adolescent health care and 90% expected to care for adolescents, only 26% believed an adolescent rotation should be required during training. Residents generally considered themselves unskilled to manage adolescents in the areas of sexuality, handicapping conditions, and psychosocial problems. Significant differences in perceived skills were found among the specialty programs on 45% of the items presented. Resident training appears to be needed in the areas of adolescent growth and development, counseling, and sexuality.