The School of Nursing’s NURS 417 Community and Population Health Nursing Lab students coordinated a health fair for Marsing Elementary School in Oct. The health fair is part of a larger School of Nursing health promotion project and was the result of data a previous NURS 417 class gathered last spring.
Students of the class hypothesized that decreased physical activity and lack of dental care were two issues that might be worthy of intervention. The students invited a trainer from Axiom fitness to come out and lead the elementary students in some activities and games that they could participate in daily. A dental hygienist from Smile for Kids in Nampa lead a group activity involving dental education, and a dentist from Boise answered many questions from the elementary students. As a bonus, the kids were able to brush and floss a tooth mascot who also attended the health fair.
In the Community and Population Health Nursing Lab, nursing students practice the skills they learn in NURS 416 Community and Population Health in the real world setting. Marsing is a rural community about an hour’s drive southwest of Boise. Like many rural school districts, Marsing has to work hard and be innovative in meeting financial and staffing challenges. For example, the school district does not employ a school nurse on any of the elementary, middle, or high school campuses. Instead, various support personnel and teachers handle any medical/health issues.
The School of Nursing is hopeful that they can continue to partner with the Marsing school district to identify and improve health issues and outcomes to make the campus healthier and increase the amount of health care and health promotion occurring in the community.