1955 - 1956
1955 School nurses in Clark County were involved with the Salk vaccine trials. A newspaper photo and clipping (Las Vegas Sun) from 1957 states that free Salk vaccine polio shots were given to community members and students at Madison School, under the sponsorship of the Las Vegas Rotary Club. In the photo, nurse May Belle Tonlin gives a vaccine shot to Edward Taylor.
Genevieve Arensdorf, RN
1956 Genevieve Arensdorf, RN a highly qualified nurse who graduated in 1956 with a Master of Science Degree from the University of Colorado, was initially hired by the Las Vegas Union School District to be their Supervisor of Nurses.
When the Clark County school districts were consolidated into one district in 1956, Arensdorf was appointed to coordinate school nurses in the newly created Clark County School District. She and her early staff of five were headquartered on the second floor of the old Las Vegas Grammar School on Fourth Street. They moved to the Flamingo Road Education Center in September 1964. Arensdorf’s goals were to define and standardize both school nurse practice and qualifications for employment as a school nurse in Nevada. She led statewide efforts to do so. It took until 1973 for Nevada to adopt professional standards for school nurses.
Genevieve Arensdorf, RN
Salk vaccine polio shot