Nursing Office: Routine Health Screening

Did you know that there is an Oklahoma State Bill regarding Vision screening for school-age children?  According to State Law, every child enrolled in Kindergarten, First and Third grade must either undergo OR provide documentation of a vision screening within the previous 12 months.  What does this mean for our school?

                *At a MINIMUM, every pre-K, Kindergarten, First and Third grader will receive a                 vision and hearing screening at school

                *Second and Fourth grade students will be screened at the school’s discretion

Vision screening is conducted in early spring by Prevent Blindness Oklahoma. Qualified screeners will provide vision screening in the Nurse’s office. Nurse’s office personnel will conduct the hearing screening at a different time.

Vision Screening

Children are screened for far vision and phoria (muscle balance).  Children who fail the vision screening may be re-screened and evaluated by the nurse and/or referred directly for medical evaluation. Children who wear glasses are screened with their glasses ON to affirm the effectiveness of the current eyeglasses. Please be sure your students BRING THEIR GLASSES WITH THEM to vision screening.

If the child’s vision screening is normal/pass, a notation is made in their chart. Parents my request results—pass results are NOT automatically sent to parents. If the child does NOT pass the screening, a notation is made in the chart and a referral letter is sent home.  After the medical evaluation, results are returned to the nurse and notation is made in the chart.

Hearing Screening

Children are screened for normal hearing using the Maico Audiometer. Younger students who may have difficulty following directions will be tested using the Pilot Audiometer. Children must hear all the cues to pass.  Missing one or more cues is a “fail” and the child will be re-assessed no sooner than 2 weeks. (The most common cause for children to miss cues at this age is fluid in the ear due to colds or allergies.  Therefore, retesting is done after sufficient time to allow the fluid to reabsorb). 

If the child’s hearing screening is normal/passed, a notation if made in their chart. Parents may request results—pass results are NOT automatically sent to parents.  If the child fails 2 consecutive hearing screenings, or at the Nurse’s discretion, he/she is referred for medical evaluation.  Children who wear hearing aids are not screened (the screening is uncomfortably loud for someone with a hearing aid).  After the medical evaluation, results are returned to the nurse and notation is made in the chart.  

Students Unable to Participate

Every effort is made to accommodate the child with special needs during the screening process. However, there are students who are not able to participate either verbally, emotionally, or behaviorally.  If the child cannot participate, the Nurse may request the para to bring the child separately for screening. If the child is still unable to participate, parents are notified and the child is referred.

Requests for Results

The Nurse’s office is happy to provide results of vision/hearing screening as may be required for Sped evaluations, IEP, etc. Please make your request in writing (via email is best) to the Nurse’s office and include student’s name, grade level, and teacher. Allow 24 hours for response time.