FUTURE NURSES CLUB Hand-washing program wins an award

Club members will receive the award next week.
JOHNSTON -- A Maplewood School District program using high school students to teach younger pupils the benefits of hand-washing has garnered national recognition.
The program, developed by five members of the district's Future Nurses Club, was one of two runners-up in a contest sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Soap and Detergent Association, a trade group.
The club won a $250 prize, and students will be presented with a table-top award at the high school award night May 19, said school nurse Robin Mermer.
"They really and truly did an outstanding job," said Nancy Bock, vice president of education at the Soap and Detergent Association, which has sponsored hand-washing education since 1931.
Good hand hygiene is the most efficient way to halt the spread of infection, she said. Programs that teach hand-washing in schools can also cut down on pupil absenteeism.
First place in the annual contest when to Crownover Middle School in Corinth, Texas. The other runner-up was DeLaura Middle School in Satellite Beach, Fla.
Helping others
Materials from Maplewood's program will be made available to other schools interested in starting programs of their own, Bock said. Schools in more than 40 states run hand-washing programs based on materials distributed by the SDA and CDC, she said.
The Maplewood program was designed by members of the Future Nurses Club, a pilot program sponsored through Youngstown State University and advised by Mermer and YSU nursing student Steve Kitzmiller.
Five students in the club designed and presented hand hygiene lessons to primary school pupils in district schools. They also plan to offer refresher lessons next year.