RURAL SCHOOLS GET FIRST NURSE

When students at Zalma and Leopold schools in Bollinger County didn't feel good, the diagnosis and treatment was always the same: Sick child. Call parents.

Neither school system employed a nurse until last week, when registered nurse Karen Eftink went to work as a shared employee of both systems. A state grant to the Bollinger County Health Department and Southeast Missouri State University pays her salary and expenses.

Navora Kennedy, a secretary for 15 years at Zalma schools, said the nurse's hiring was welcome news for teachers and students.

"The secretaries could just put a Band-Aid on the kids," she said. "Anything more serious than that, we had to call the parents and let them decide."

At Leopold schools, students whose parents signed permission slips could receive Tylenol. Superintendent Robert Turner said Eftink's employment will allow for better treatment of sick students, but even more importantly, someone to keep up with health screenings and classroom education.

Both school systems are very small -- Zalma has about 290 students; Leopold 210 -- and neither had the funds to hire a full-time nurse. When Dr. Helen Miner, an assistant professor in Southeast's nursing department, heard about the schools' plight, she worked with the health department to apply for a Missouri comprehensive school health grant.

Sixty-three grants were awarded statewide, but Miner's was the only one where a university and health department worked together.

"Traditionally, school nurses have been used to put Band-Aids on students and take care of the ones who are throwing up," Miner said. "But schools that have good health programs use them for a broad range of duties, from health counseling to classroom education to screening follow-ups."

Schools without good health programs, however, don't make the nurse a priority. When budgets get tight, he or she may be the first to go.

There's a danger in that mentality, Miner said. It's difficult for classroom teachers to stay current on the subjects they teach, never mind knowing how to administer several types of first aid. When a student with chronic health problems enters their classroom or a group heads out to the playground equipment, there is potential for disaster.

Billie Surface, administer of the Bollinger County Health Department, said the new nurse will spend two days a week at Leopold, two at Zalma and one at the health department office.

"We're really excited about this, and we hope to accomplish what we set out to do -- have healthier kids," she said. "Healthy kids make better students."

In addition, the cooperation between the health department and university will allow nursing students to gain clinical experience by working at the department office and in the schools. Leopold and Zalma students get to see nurses in training and have exposure to another career option.

Eftink, the new school nurse, formerly worked at Cottonwood Treatment Center in Cape Girardeau, dealing with children ages 5-17 who have several behavioral problems. She said working at Leopold and Zalma would be a big change but a welcome one. Leopold is her hometown, and her daughter attends school there.

Eftink started work immediately at Leopold, discovering outdated materials in the school system's first-aid kit. She said she looks forward to getting the nursing program up and running in both schools.