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Visits by elementary school children to the school nurse
The Journal of School Health
|December 1, 1983
Summary
Childhood health-seeking behavior is learned through socialization and adult modeling. Recurrent health issues increase school nurse visits, with no gender differences observed in visit frequency.
Area of Science:
- Child Health
- Behavioral Science
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Childhood health-seeking and illness behaviors are influenced by socialization, adult role models, illness labeling, and psychological distress.
- Understanding these influences is crucial for effective pediatric healthcare and school-based health services.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate factors influencing health-seeking and illness behavior in elementary school children.
- To analyze the characteristics of children visiting the school nurse's office and identify patterns in their healthcare-seeking behavior.
Main Methods:
- Observational study design.
- Descriptive data collection from 551 elementary school students over a six-month period.
- Correlation analysis to examine relationships between variables.
Main Results:
- Health-seeking and illness behavior in children is a learned process.
- No significant differences were found in the frequency of school nurse visits between boys and girls.
- Recurrent health problems were positively correlated with the frequency of school nurse visitation.
Conclusions:
- School nurse visits reflect learned health behaviors and the impact of recurrent health issues.
- The school nurse plays a vital role in identifying and assessing potential physical and psychological problems in children.
- Interventions should consider the learned nature of health behaviors and address recurrent health concerns effectively.