VENT!!!! (you've been warned)

lol -doing mine this week too!

Great! I am doing mine May 19th. Way to make me dread it!!! This is my first year as a school nurse. I will be screening the 6th graders. We have 353 of them. So tell me- how bad is it gonna be. Lay it on me now!!! Any tips???????? LOL

Sending you a hug! :hug:

I don't have to do spinal for the grades I have, but hearing and vision with the little ones is a beating, so I feel your pain. I'm screening all the new kids who enrolled since Winter Break right now, and it just throws the whole day off kilter. Hang in there, this will be done before we know it and summer is right around the corner!

don't do scoliosis screenings, the USPSTF says don't:

http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspsaisc.htm

we have to in Missouri...

http://health.mo.gov/living/families/schoolhealth/pdf/SpinalScreeningGuidelines.pdf

What are are school nurses in Missouri doing about getting rid of a regulation that violates USPSTF recommendations? The recommendations states school scoliosis screening harms students.

It is not just that the screening is a waste of valuable instruction time, it subjects students to unnecessary costs, treatment and costs school districts precious funds that could be used for other student needs

That's a question I will defer to my boss. I will get back to ya when I get her response. This is my first year so I am not sure.

The state of Texas mandates it. I've talked with my boss about it, she's given her opinion on why it shouldn't be done when called upon by the powers that be, but it hasn't changed.

What happens if you don't do it?

California suspended reimbursement for scoliosis screenings for three years and although they are still recommended, they are not required.

Government Code section 17581.5 was amended through AB 1610. The effect of which suspends the Removal of Chemicals mandate, the Scoliosis Screening mandate, and the PE Reporting mandate. Note that the PE reporting mandate is not the same as the Physical Fitness Testing mandate. The state continues to require districts to test students in grades 5, 7, and 9 on their physical fitness. The state suspended the requirement under the PE Reporting mandate for districts to report whether they meet the minimum number of PE minutes in grades 1-8.

The USPSTF found fair evidence that treatment of idiopathic scoliosis during adolescence leads to health benefits (decreased pain and disability) in only a small proportion of people. Most cases detected through screening will not progress to a clinically significant form of scoliosis. Scoliosis needing aggressive treatment, such as surgery, is likely to be detected without screening.

The USPSTF found fair evidence that treatment of adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis detected through screening leads to moderate harms, including unnecessary brace wear and unnecessary referral for specialty care. As a result, the USPSTF concluded that the harms of screening adolescents for idiopathic scoliosis exceed the potential benefits.

Although the USPSTF did not consider costs in making its recommendation and did not find high-quality studies of the cost-effectiveness of screening, the USPSTF concludes that the costs of a screening program would include the time of primary care clinicians, specialty evaluation, treatment with braces, and followup costs.

http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspsaisc.htm

Don't bother with talking to your boss. You need to go to your state school nurse organization and have their legislative committee work on getting the law rescinded. We in Washington State just got it rescinded last year, but it took several years of lobbying our state's representatives.