Lina Rogers Struthers was the first nurse placed in the New York City school system in a one-month experiment to reduce health-related absenteeism. At the time, school physicians were responsible for completing daily classroom inspections to identify students with communicable diseases such as measles, scarlet fever, and diphtheria. Students diagnosed with these conditions were excluded from school and instructed to receive treatment. Many families failed to receive the necessary treatment and the child would subsequently not return to school.
She tended to the health of 10,000 students in four separate schools. At the end of the month, the results were so promising that the New York City Board of Health continued her appointment.