It’s December – time for all those nasty cough, cold, and flu bugs to be out again. The National Hand washing Awareness Campaign is underway and students and staff at Canton Elementary School are all scrubbing hard to keep infections away. According to Lea Ann McElroy, Director, Bureau of Coordinated School Health at the Department of Education, proper hand washing is actually one more way to ensure that Mississippi students are fit, healthy, and ready to learn. “A student’s health status is directly related to his or her ability to learn,” says McElroy. “And, we know that regular hand washing is one of the simplest and most effective ways to prevent disease.”
“The entire school has gotten into the hand washing habit,” says school nurse Ida Thomas “As we get into the cold and flu season, we focus on the healthy habits that help reduce student and teacher absences by defending against disease.” The Mississippi Department of Health recommends several important habits on their website at www.msdh.state.ms.us/msdhsite/index.cfm/43,6459,271,32,html. The healthy habits include: washing your hands often; covering your cough or sneeze; not touching your eyes or mouth; and keeping your distance from people who are sick.
The Child Nutrition program at Canton Elementary School is also a big promoter of proper hand washing and sanitizing. “We are using the new resources from the Office of Healthy Schools to make certain that everyone knows how to clean their hands before preparing, serving, or eating food,” says Child Nutrition director Bettye Hart). “Careful hand washing or sanitizing is also the best way to prevent food-borne illnesses.” The ESPDT School Nurse at Canton Elementary School has been working with the school staff by showing them methods of teaching proper hand washing and other healthy habits by emphasizing proper hand washing habits using signs posted in classrooms, cafeteria, or other locations where food is served; installation of sanitizer dispensers.
Additionally, during a district sponsored Health Fair in recognition of National Hand washing Awareness Week, Canton Elementary School’s ESPDT School Nurse, Ida Thomas, cautions the audience about the importance of hand washing. During the communitywide session, Thomas stressed that, “keeping children healthy during cold and flu season will help decrease absences and well and healthy students will be alert and ready to learn when they are in the classroom.”
Thomas is one of over 400 nurses providing health promotion and illness prevention
services to students and staff in Mississippi schools, so that everyone is fit, healthy, and ready to succeed. One of the primary responsibilities of the ESPDT School Nurse is the prevention and control of communicable diseases, such as flu and food borne illnesses.
Thomas informs health fair participants that, “proper hand washing is one of the simplest and most effective ways to prevent the spread of upper respiratory and food borne illnesses in schools.”
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