Reason of referral to doctor and following-up of students who visited to the health office of an elementary school in Istanbul

Aim: This study aims to determined that reason of referral to doctor and following-up of students who visited to the health office of an elementary school in Istanbul
 Method: This study was descriptive.  The research was carried out during 2003-2004 spring and 2004-2005 spring- autumn semesters in an elementary school located in Uskudar, Istanbul. Analyses were performed with a total of 234 students who applied to the school health office for any reason and who were refer to appropriate medical facilities. “Student Referral Form”, developed by the researchers, was used in data collection. Descriptive statistics were used for data analyze.
Results: Of the 2107 students who have consulted the school health office for any reason, 11,1% (n=234) was referred; the most common complaints were sore throat, headache and fever; and the majority of the refers from the school were made to local clinics (73.9%).  Most common diagnosis was upper respiratory tract infections, followed by dermatological conditions and soft tissue diseases.
Conclusion: In light of the result of this study, which was conducted to demonstrate that nurses working at school health units could find solutions to problems requiring medical treatment by referral systems, posting nurses at schools is suggested.