Nursing in Schools

Throughout your time in school, you have probably seen the school nurse a lot of times. It might be because of a headache, stomachache or whatever aches most children have. You might have gone to the nurse to get out of a quiz. For whatever reason, school nurses are a big part of most children’s’ life.

School nurses are Registered Nurses (RN) who work with the school. They give advice and take care of school children. Nursing in schools may sound easy but actually a school nurse has a lot of responsibilities.

Here are the Common responsibilities of Nurses in Schools:

• They need to make a health plan according to what the public needs. They need to have keen assessment skills when planning for the whole school.
• Nurses support and give health advice to children. They also acts as counselor if children have problems.
• School nurses don’t only work with school children but also with their parents. They also coordinate with teachers, social workers and other professionals.
• They are also in charge of the immunizations of children. They need to know if they are updated and what immunization they have missed in cases of outbreaks.
• School nurses should educate the school staff to know and understand the needs of the students. Diseases like asthma, epilepsy and diabetes should be discussed and school staffs need to be familiar with these diseases.

Nursing in Schools also involves giving advice and information on health to the children. They need to teach the importance of health, exercise and eating well balanced meals to prevent disorders like obesity. School nurses often deal with bullying and they need to offer counsel to those children. Sexual health is also an important topic that nurses need to teach children. Substance abuse and alcohol use are topics need to be emphasized in children.

There are a lot of issues that nursing in schools deal with. They have to cope with the health issues that children have. They should know how to deal with children with illnesses. They need to help on the health plan of the children when they go to school. They should know what activities that the child can do and set limits. They should know the special health needs of each child. First aid care and basic life support training is a must for all nurses.

Nursing in schools is a difficult job. Many people take school nurses for granted. There are so many things that school nurses do and they need to be properly trained to cope with emergencies, special needs as well as educating children, parents, teachers and other school staff.