Syracuse school nurse Ann O'Hara

A Syracuse school nurse was one of three national panelists on a recent airing of National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation." The topic was "Spotting the Warning Signs of Child Abuse."

Ann O'Hara, like all school nurses, is a "mandated reporter" — school staffers who are required to report their suspicions of child abuse, as proscribed by state education and social services law. It means O'Hara must rely on eyes, ears and intuition more than her dangling stethoscope to note possible abuse and report it.

This is "the unseen part of being a school nurse," said O'Hara, a member of the NYSUT Health Care Professionals Council who works at Dr. Weeks Elementary School in Syracuse.

In January, she joined two other experts on the national radio show, prompted by concern about a woman in Washington, D.C., who allegedly killed her four daughters. A half-dozen child welfare workers were fired in the aftermath.

'Twice this week'

When moderator Neil Conan asked O'Hara if she ever had to report abuse, she said simply, "Twice this week."

As a school nurse, she sees children who come forward with bruises, but there are many other signs. Sometimes children are overly anxious. Some will reveal a concern about a sibling being mistreated. During a scoliosis check, O'Hara found whip marks on a child.

Chronic head lice, she said, is a red flag for a dysfunctional household.

In one case, O'Hara found a family's phone service disconnected. She reached the grandparents, only to discover that in the parents' home, the heat was turned off, there was no food and the parents were spending what money they had on beer.

This was in the middle of winter, pointed out O'Hara, a member of the Syracuse Teachers Association.

One child was falling asleep in school. Questioning revealed this 10-year-old was up at night in charge of younger kids, including feeding the baby, while the parents were out.

One child who corroborated a story about a sibling being hit by the father was then out of school for 10 days, returning with bruises.

Other signs of lack of attention are:

• Poor hygiene;

• Untreated injuries or medical needs;

• Students who are short for their height, and underweight;

• Frequent absences; and

• Kids who have to attend to adult responsibilities.

Students who are perpetually hungry also raise concerns, O'Hara said.

Repercussions include parents challenging school nurses or social workers. In one case, when suspicions were raised about a kindergartner and first-grader with bruises, the parents responded by removing the children from school and home-schooling them.

"That's a risk I have to take on behalf of the child," said O'Hara, a NYSUT Health Care Professional of the Year in 2006.

New reporting regs

In addition to nurses, the list of school personnel who must, by law, report suspected child abuse includes teachers, school counselors, school psychologists and school social workers.

For details on the newest regulations, check out NYSUT's Information Bulletin "Child Abuse Mandatory Reporting Requirements for School Employees" at www.nysut.org.

— Liza Frenette