by nonpoor Black children, who reported 432
injuries (10%).
Poor White and Hispanic children visited school
nurses most frequently (1 in every 3 children) for
social/emotional concerns, while 1 in 10 poor Asian
and nonpoor Black children used these services. Poor
Black children were the second highest users of this
service (1 in 5 children), and nonpoor Asians rarely
were seen by school nurses for social/emotional
health (less than one half of 1%).
The highest level of nursing treatments was
provided for poor Black children, one third of whom
received nursing treatments (e.g., tube feedings and
catheterizations). Poor White children received the
second highest number of nursing treatments, followed
by poor Hispanic, poor Asian, and nonpoor
Black children. Hispanic children (17%) received the
most health screening and rescreening services (such
as vision and hearing screenings, and special education
assessments), followed by nonpoor Hispanic
children (1 of 8), poor Asian children (1 of 9), and
poor Black children (1 of every 10).
Some students make multiple visits to school
nurses for a variety of reasons: nursing treatments,
medication administration, and physical complaints
with or without psychological origins are some common
reasons. Because there were 36 weeks in the
school year in 2005–2006, the 24 children who visited
the nurse an average of once per week, or 36
times or more during the school year, are considered
to be children who may have unmet or special health
care needs. Some of these 24 children may visit the
nurse for daily medication administration. Others
may present with vague symptoms of unknown clinical
etiology that may be psychological or physical in
origin. These children accounted for 1,632, or 13%, of