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Catherine I am not working in your area of work now. However, following the Allitt enquiry and Bullock report I thought fitness standards had been produced for pre-employment assessment of student nurses and midwives? or have I got this wrong? Information on this would be available I think though the DOH. Hope this helps. Cynthia Atwell ----- Original Message ----- From: "Greta Thornbory" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2001 4:27 PM Subject: Re: Screening of nursing and midwifery students > Dear Catherine > To re-iterate what Cynthia Atwell said the other day about screening - why > are you doing it? > > Firstly: should university students be screened by OH? - there should be a > student health centre. They are not 'at work' so they are not part of > 'occupational health. > > Secondly: what does this screening of ht/wt etc tell you? You are right, it > is costly and for what? It would be cheaper to ask their own GP to give a > report on the state of their health and their suitability to undertake a > higher education course, highlighting any special hazards they may encounter > as students e.g. working a laboratory. Then, if their course has a special > requirement, such as chemical handling, then the University should have a > COSHH policy which outlines the health surveillance required by those who > handle such things. It cannot be done alone and needs human > resources/personnel involved in developing policies which are safe for the > staff as well as the students. This will include the policy on vaccination > status and how this is addressed and is not necessarily confidential > information. > > Thirdly: with regard to the students from abroad there is a public health > issue here which should be addressed by the public health physician. > > Hope this helps, I must say I am surprised by the number of people who are > still religiously carrying out programmes which include the routine height; > weight; urinalysis and one off, opportunistic blood pressure when research > has shown that this is not a cost effective or worthwhile exercise, in fact, > it can be quite the opposite for people who are put under stress by a > slightly abnormal result and all that entails of waiting to get an > appointment to see a GP etc. The research for my masters dissertation 10 > years ago showed the amount of indiscriminate screening going on and yet > there is so much research into screening that says 'think about what you are > doing'. > > Greta Thornbory > Education & Health Care Consultant > 01235 770156 phone > 01235 765797 fax > 07778 518 027 mobile > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Catherine Paget <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2001 1:17 PM > Subject: Screening of nursing and midwifery students > > > > I am responsible for the health screening of all prospective nursing and > > midwifery students within Anglia Polytechnic University and would be very > > interested to hear from others involved in screening this group and of > your > > screening procedures. > > At APU all students are seen individually by our OH Screening nurse who > > after reviewing their questionnaire performs basic screening tests ie BP, > > Pulse, Ht, Wt, Keystone vision screening & Urinalysis. Not only is this > > costly but is also very time consuming and I see little relevance in it.I > > am anxious to streamline this process and believe we should just be > > reviewing their questionnaires and vaccination history. > > We request all prospective students provide us with HBsAg & Rubella blood > > test results, and VZV in the absence of a history of chickenpox. > > I have recently been told that we should now be referring all students > > arriving from countries where there is a high prevalence of TB for chest > X- > > rays. We currently follow BTS guidelines and refer those with Heaf Grades > > 3 & 4 for further assessment. > > I would be very grateful if you could spare the time to tell me your > > screening procedures and of your opinions as to what we should be > screening > > these students for. > > Thank you.