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Nursing care from birth through high school, to itinerant technician עברית אחרי האנגלית

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עברית אחרי האנגלית School nurses  in Israel used to work both in tipat halav (well baby clinics) and schools, which means they had extensive experience caring for infants and school-age issues building trust over the years with families, and likely compliance with vaccines and other health interventions. This ended in 2002, when tipat halav and school nursing were separated, thus nurses lost that long-term connection they had with families and children, and the trust building that resulted. In 2002, school nurses performed hearing and vision screenings, reviewed the records of the children who accompanied them from tipat halav to school and were thus able to track health issues, and thus were in a position to encourage parents to have follow-up medical visits for chronic health issues.   That is long gone.   The narrowing of the profession to school age, infrequent presence at schools, and only the administration of vaccines, height and weight, and infrequent classro...

Rehabilitation - caring for every single soul

 We are a varied group, at this rehabilitation day care center in Israel. From Yiddish-speaking Chassidic to secular and sporting tatoos, we are a team united by our dedication to the children, and by a basic respect for each other. The variety that exists within the staff adds to a rich experience and the promise of how good things can be when we are united by a vision - that each child deserves the best chance no matter what his or her state of health.   Shattered a bit by a visit from a doctor who was reviewing the cases of the four children who need the most care and, admittedly, according to the dry statistics, may not have the longevity that others have. But they are still precious souls and have their own charm and it is a pleasure to care for them.   Let me get to the doctor's visit after I share with you the following:  a couple of weeks ago, we were taking turns working on giving Moshe (pen name for the sake of privacy) chest physical therapy as his oxygen ...

Well here in an encouraging word from a physician:

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 English follows the Hebrew, see below: מאת רופא אפידימיולוגי: "אני מסכים שעבודת בריאות הציבור חייבת להיעשות תוך שיתוף חברי ומנהיגי הקהילה כפי שהדגמת בעבודתך הברוכה. חשוב שסיפורך ישמע, בעיקר בשירותי בריאות הציבור במשרד הבריאות.. "חג שמח He wrote this to me before the High Holidays, Sept 2025, in response to the following: Dear Dr ____ I forward this to you as an clinician in the field of public health, I wish to share my observations on the decreasing availability of vaccines in my two decades of working as a school nurse, in the Shomron , there is a great need for wider vaccine availability, I enclose my resume and letters of recommendation for context.   We cannot wonder at outbreaks of diseases to which there are vaccines, given the state of public health services in Israel in recent decades. איננו יכולים להתעלם מהשינויים בשירותי בריאות הציבור בישראל בעודנו תוהים על התפרצות חצבת. מבקשת התעניינותכם בסיפור שלי כאחות בריאות הציבור, תודה הנה נקודות חשובות מהמכתב המצו...

Reflections on Community Health Nursing in Shomron (2002-2023)

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    Reflections on Community Health Nursing in Shomron (2002-2023) Introduction The following are insights into the role of culturally competent care, trust-building, personal contact, and evidence-based practice in public health , a crucial message in light of recent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in Israel. Throughout my tenure as a community health nurse in Shomron from 2002 to 2023 , I observed the importance of trust-building on a local level,  and the damage that a paternalistic management style does to healthcare delivery.  The Role of Trust and Culturally Competent Care in Public Health Imanuel is a largely haredi  (ultra-orthodox) community, founded in the late 1980's. It is unique in that it has never experienced an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable contagious illness. This success, I believe, was largely due to proactive community engagement, a crucial element in effective public health practice (Schim et al., 2007). The school nurse who pr...