Seeing is believing…in academic success

Dr. Carol Weingarten (front left) with Villanova Nursing seniors in front of the Eagles Eye Mobile at Delaplaine McDaniel School. With her are (front row) David Soto and Kelly Smith and (back row) Maureen Muchel, Victoria Daubert, Monique Stenger, Ashley Goff, Cat Vitulli, nurse practitioner student Sarah Smith, and Sarah LeBrun.

April 18^th wasn’t just another day for Villanova Nursing student volunteers and elementary students at Delaplaine McDaniel School in Philadelphia. Accompanied by Carol Weingarten, PhD, RN, ANEF, associate professor and advisor to the College of Nursing chapter of the Student Nurses’ Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP), a group of students traveled to the school to facilitate eye exams by the visiting Philadelphia Eagles Eye Mobile at the start of school in the morning.  School Nurse Practitioner, Rodney Abary, welcomed the group.

The Villanova contingent was following up on vision screening efforts conducted in the fall and this spring to identify children who have issues seeing and require additional follow up such as glasses or an appointment with an eye doctor. “About one in five of the children cannot see well enough to pass the vision test,” notes Dr. Weingarten.

Both Nurse Abary and the Villanova Nurses understand that sight is critical to academic success and work together to assess every child in the school.