The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

12 The Health Bulletin June, 1951Work With NursesContinuous staff education of nursesat state and local level, at quarterlyconferences is provided. The subjectsdiscussed depends upon the needs of thenurses in each area. Requests have beenfor basic nutrition information; foodhabits and nutrition practices in thestate for adults and children; adequatediets for the low income group; specialdiets for those suffering from specificdiseases; fifty-five of these conferenceswere held attended by 697 public healthnurses.Work in ClinicsThe six district nutritionists are ableto provide some service to the regularclinics held by some of the health departmentsin their districts. An attempthas been made to demonstrate the kindof nutrition instruction which nursesmight give. These demonstrations andservices have been given in prenatal,well-baby and pre-school clinics. Patientswith special nutrition problemsare referred by doctors or nurse for individualconferences. There were 21group discussions and 1262 individualconferences held with those attendingclinics.Survey WorkFundamental information which canbe secured regarding the food habits ofany group is essential for preparing aprogram for improvement of healththrough good nutrition practices. Thisinformation is used by health officersand the nurses in their work and byteachers for planning the nutrition instructionwhich is needed in the classroom.The procedure for collecting surveyinformation has been described inreports of previous years. This past yearsurveys have been made in 39 schools;and 1053 children have been interviewed.Work in SchoolsAssistance in the School Health Programis one of the most frequent requestsmade of nutritionists. In responseto these requests the consultantgives refresher courses to teachers.Afterwards she gives specific help tothose teachers planning nutrition instructionfor the students in their healthprogram. The number of teachers receivingthis instruction during 1950 was3550 in 115 schools. Of these 311 teachersrequested help and included nutritioninstruction as a part of their healthprogram. Animal feeding experiments,using white rats and guinea pigs, werecarried out in the upper grades by teacherswho wished to make the best useof the instruction received.Work of the Consulting DietitiansSince the dietary consultant servicebegan in 1948 there has been an increasingdemand for this type of work andas a consequence a second dietitian wasadded to the staff in September 1950.This service includes assistance in reviewingarchitects' plans for new kitchenconstruction or renovation in hospitalsand state institutions and those constructedunder the direction of theMedical Care Commission. In additionthe dietitians assisted in the establishmentof specifications for food serviceequipment for state institutions; inevaluating dietary practices in state andcounty institutions, when requested; inproviding menu guides, and in cooperatingin food handlers' courses. Duringthe year the above service has beenrendered to 52 state and county institutions,1 orphange, 4 colleges. Fifty-foursets of plans and 37 sets of specificationshave been reviewed for the MedicalCare Commission.Special Work(a) Joint work has been carried onwith the Department of Public Welfarein respect to dietary needs of familiesreceiving Aid to Dependent Children'sFunds. This activity is still in progress.(b) A demonstration project for wellchildconferences has been set up cooperativelywith the School of PublicHealth and the District Health Officeof Orange-Person-Chatham-Lee Counties.It was requested that a nutritionistbe assigned to this district so that acomplete health department staff couldwork on the project. A nutritionist wassecured in October. The work has beenstarted.(c) The cooperative demonstration