Nursing Students Offer Physicals For Atlanta's Neediest Children
They may be conducting vision screenings on children, but it's often the Georgia State nursing students who have their eyes opened to new realities. Like the fact that, on any given night, about 1,700 children in Atlanta live in homeless shelters or group homes. As part of the School of Nursing's Health and Wellness Nursing Collab-orative, students and faculty provide health screenings and physicals for children of homeless or low-income families at shelters and in housing projects.
"It can be a culture shock to some students, depending on their background," says Myra Carmon, associate professor and program director. "But most students love it because it's such good practical experience."
In early August, about 15 students and five faculty members took part in the Children Restoration Network's 11th Annual Back 2 School Campaign. The Georgia State team conducted vision and hearing screenings, blood pressure readings and listened to heart beats on some 200 children.
"It's very touching to see how happy most of the kids are, many with little more than the clothes on their backs," Carmon says. "They're just so glad for the attention that they laugh a lot and enjoy taking the physicals."