Lynn Hicks RN
School Nurse

Vision and Hearing Screening

Each fall all students at MDE have their vision and hearing checked.  Distance vision is screened using a Snellen letter chart at a distance of 20 feet.  Students in kindergarten or above are required by the state to read the letters on the 20/30 line or below to pass.  Students in pre-kindergarten are allowed to read the 20/40 line to pass.  Younger students may also be screened using the Tumbling E chart instead of letters.  One eye is covered and the other eye reads the letters.  Then the other eye is covered and the process is repeated.  Students that have difficulty are checked again the following week and parents are notified if the difficulty persists.  A written referral form is sent home and a thorough evaluation is recommended.

Hearing is screened in a quiet but not sound-proof setting.  Students are required to pass three frequencies at 25dB in each ear.  The frequencies are 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, and 4000 Hz.  Occassionally, students have difficulty with the hearing screening due to wax in the outer ear or fluid in the middle ear.  If a student has difficulty on two different screening dates the parents are notified and a written referral form is sent home.  A thorough examination with the family's physician is recommended.

Height and weight without shoes are also taken during the screening visit.  It is interesting to see the growth patterns of our students.  This is a good opportunity for me to encourage health eating habits and avoidance of "junk" food. 

Medications

If a non-prescription medicine needs to be taken during the school day, please bring the medication to the nurse's office in the orginal container (not loose in a bag) with a non-prescription parent permission form filled out and signed by a parent.  This form is located on the "Forms" section of this web page.

Prescription medications require permission from the physician and the parent.  The medication must be in the original prescription container with the student's name on the label.  A prescription permission form is located on the "Forms" section of this web page. 

Both medication forms must give the name of the medication, the dose for the student, and the time or frequency to be given.  If you have any questions, please contact the school nurse.