The forgotten frontline: Unveiling the realities of school and public health nursing

School nurses are the only health professional with a reach extending to all school-aged children and young people, providing a public health service which is crucial to improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people and reducing inequalities. They lead the delivery of the Healthy Child Programme (HCP) 5–19, supporting children and young people in schools, other education settings including alternative provision, the secure estate, those who are electively home educated and those more vulnerable children who are missing their education (Sutton and White, 2024). Recent reports show a declining picture of child health in the UK and warn that a generation of children and young people are being failed. The needs of children and young people in the UK have increased, with poorer health outcomes compared to other similar nations (Viner et al, 2018). School nursing practice evolves and develops to respond to these changing and increasing needs of school-aged children and young people. However, the capacity of the school nursing workforce to meet needs has dramatically declined (SAPHNA, 2024).