Every child deserves a chance to live the healthiest life possible. When children are encouraged to develop healthy habits early, they are more likely to stick with them throughout their lifespan. Yearly health exams are difficult to obtain for some due to lack of access to a health provider. Tiger Check is a program that brings healthcare to children in schools to address barriers to health and access to care.
Tiger Check is a chance for every child to receive a yearly health screening from age 4 to age 18.
Nursing students from Auburn University School of Nursing and Tuskegee University School of Nursing join efforts to ensure each child in the Macon and Bullock Co. school system is assessed each year by a health provider.
In some cases, this might be the only health check-up available to the children, pre-teens, and teens who qualify for the screening.
Nursing students work together to assess students’ height, weight, blood pressure, eyes, ears, nose, throat, heart, and lungs. If students notice anything abnormal, the child will be sent to the Nurse Practitioner on-site for a more thorough exam. The NP follows up with the school RN to ensure continuation of care.
It’s an excellent opportunity for nursing students to work as a team and develop their assessment and critical thinking skills.
The technology we have to chart assessments is more than a decade old. It works most of the time, but it is relatively slow, and we don’t have enough tablets to disperse to all the students. This creates a backup in assessments. If a student doesn’t have a tablet, they can’t assess a child. Children who come to receive assessments take time out of class, and any delay in seeing them takes away from their learning in school.
Up-to-date, intuitive, easy-to-use technology will increase our efficiency, allow us to see more kids, and also give kids more time in class.
This Tiger Giving Day, help us purchase 20 new iPads, so that we can keep kids healthy and keep them in class!
Partner with three friends and purchase an iPad for Nursing students to use in the field.