References

Acheson D. Public health in England: the report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Future Development of the Public Health Function.London: The Stationery Office; 1988

British Youth Council. ‘Our School Nurse: Young People's Views on the Role of the School Nurse’. 2011. https//www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/children-and-young-people/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2014/04/140801-Our-School-Nurse-British-Youth-Council.pdf

Bronfenbrenner U. ‘Environments in developmental perspective: Theoretical and operational models’, in Measuring environment across the life span: Emerging methods and concepts.Washington: American Psychological Association; 1999 https://doi.org/10.1037/10317-001

Children's Commissioner for England. Lightning Review: Children's access to school Nurses to improve wellbeing and protect them from harm, Children's Commissioner for England. 2016b. https//www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/report/lightning-review-childrens-access-to-school-nurses-to-improve-wellbeing-and-protect-them-from-harm/

Dazzi T., Gribble R., Wessely S., Fear N.T. ‘Does asking about suicide and related behaviours induce suicidal ideation? What is the evidence?’. Psychological Medicine. 2014; 44:(16)3361-3363 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291714001299

Department of Health. ‘Liberating the NHS: No Decision About Me Without Me’. 2012. http//publishing.service.gov.uk

Hunter W. ‘Extremely worrying’: Data shows drop in school nurses and health visitors.: Nursing in Practice; 2023

The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final Report A child-centred system. 2011. https//www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175391/Munro-Review.pdf

NHS Digital. Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2022 – wave 3 follow up to the 2017 survey. 2022. https//digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2022-follow-up-to-the-2017-survey

NHS England. Co Production an Introduction. 2023. https//www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/co-production-an-introduction/

NHS England. Friends and Family Test. 2023. https//www.england.nhs.uk/fft/

Nightingale F. ’The Art of Nursing’.Cornwall: Claud Morris Books; 1946

Nursing and Midwifery Council. Standards of Proficiency for Specialist Community Public Health Nurses. 2022. https//www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/standards/post-reg-standards/nmc_standards_of_proficiency_for_specialist_community_public_health_nurses_scphn.pdf

Varler E, Murfiin M. An Implementation Guide and Toolkit for Making Every Contact Count: Using every opportunity to achieve health and wellbeing.: Health Education England; 2012

Weber J R., Kelley J H. ‘Heath assessment in Nursing, 7th Edition’. London: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2021

Time to Shine: The child that is fully seen, heard, and supported

02 October 2023
Case Study
02 October 2023
Volume 4 | British Journal of Child health · Issue 5

Abstract

Children and young people would like school nurses to be visible, accessible and confidential. In a time of cuts and high waiting lists, especially in CAMHS services, school nurses can offer valuable evidence-based support. However, when reports suggest that school nurses spend too much time on bureaucratic child protection duties and paperwork and with depleted school nurse numbers nationally, how can this gap be bridged?

In this article, Rachel Livsey shares a new way of working where school nurses conduct a holistic health needs assessment, which considers all aspects of a child or young person's life has been suggested and created by the author. This work has been done in conjunction with a new robust safeguarding policy to allows school nurses to immerse themselves in the public health aspect of their work while participating in safeguarding duties in a proportionate and appropriate manner, with the aim of truly making every contact matter.

School nurses are part of the multi-disciplinary team that are required to attend child protection case conferences. As part of this process, school nurses undertake a health assessment and report on the findings. Child protection conferences can be up to 2 hours long and school nurses are often required to reattend at 3 months and, if the child protection plan continues, 6-monthly until the child or young person (from here on in referred to as client) are considered not to be at risk of serious harm. The impact of the amount of time school nurses spend in this arena on the public health service delivery has been the subject of much debate (Children's Commissioner, 2016a).

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC, 2004) remarked that health assessment is a key component of public health nursing practice. In practice, specialist community public health nurses and school nurses need to gain a complete picture of a client's individual life and circumstances in the search of their health needs. A health assessment should collect data about the normal abilities of the client, risk factors that may result in health problems, and any changes in the client's health to get a clear overview of the health status of the client. It also gives an opportunity to encourage healthy habits, prevent potential health problems, and manage current health problems efficiently (Weber and Kelley, 2021).

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Journal of Child Health and reading some of our peer-reviewed resources for children’s health professionals. To read more, please register today. You’ll enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included

  • Limited access to our clinical or professional articles

  • New content and clinical newsletter updates each month

Register
Or continue by

Signing in with your registered email address