Poor children are twice as likely as more affluent children to have health or mental health problems that impair their daily functioning. These are the students who often are at highest risk for absenteeism and academic failure. In 1990, there were more than 30,000 cases of measles, mumps and whooping cough - all of them preventable by adequate immunization. Only one-half of all American children are fully immunized before age two. The National Association of School Nurses believes that all children must have access to quality comprehensive school health programs.
Good health is vital to a child's ability to learn and succeed in life.
Today, too many children start school unprepared to meet the challenges of learning. Comprehensive school health programs to meet their needs can be provided in a variety of ways. School-based clinics can be organized in a wide variety of configurations, staffed with a variety of personnel, including school health nurses, advanced practice nurses, and physicians, for example. The strengths and needs of the particular community dictate what types of services are provided. Programs should be developed through local community needs assessment and local community planning with consumer and provider participation.