IVCC students help with health fair
Students in dental assisting and nursing are participating in a Health and Safety Fair at Northwest School in LaSalle on April 30.
Members of the Student Organization for Dental Assistants will be doing plaque checks on children, teaching them how to brush their teeth properly and giving them information on proper nutrition.
Members of the Student Nurse Association will be demonstrating hand washing with "glow germs," taking and letting the children touch and look at the blood pressure and stethoscopes and electric thermometers.
Nurse instructor Pam Mammano said "If the student nurses can help one child understand the importance of and learn the technique of good hand washing, then that may lead to a healthier life for that child and for the other children he touches."
Mammano also said that children often have fears of having their vital signs taken and that this activity may help alleviate some of those fears.
Dental assisting instructor Pat Pearson said, "Participation in this type of activity is an excellent way for (IVCC) students to practice their patient education skills and to perform community service."
Mammano agreed and added that education of the public on health issues is a role nurses need to take after graduation.
The fair will be attended by parents and children in the at-risk preschool program as well as by younger siblings.
April 8, 199 the Apache