Tuesday 17 September, 2024
A recent report published by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and highlighted by the Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland (QNIS) has brought attention to the field of school nursing. Dr Elaine Allan, QNIS Fellow and a lecturer on the Nursing MSc Advanced Practice degree at Robert Gordon University, has emphasized the need to raise the profile of school nursing in Scotland. This is due to the increasing complexity of needs among school-aged children and young people, as well as gaps in mental health and wellbeing services.
The report, titled “Raising the profile of school nursing in Scotland,” was published by the RCN and shared by the QNIS on Scotland’s nursing workforce. Dr Allan, along with a group of RCN members representing all fields of practice, have put forth 10 recommendations to address Scotland’s nursing workforce crisis. These include a nursing retention strategy based on the findings of the RCN’s third report on the nursing workforce in Scotland and a call to increase the number of school nurses who provide specialized support to school-aged children.
In June last year, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan in England pledged to increase training places for school nurses by 28% and aims to double the number of places to over 650 by 2031-32. The School and Public Health Nurse Association (SAPHNA) is urging Scotland to follow suit and enhance the Scottish Government’s commitment to the Scottish school nursing workforce, which was made in 2018.
Dr Allan stated, “The report is timely given the return of schools for the autumn semester and the increasing needs of school-aged children and young people, specifically related to the gaps in mental health and wellbeing services, which school nurses attempt to fill.” In addition, the QNIS has highlighted the findings of the recent RCN report on Scotland’s nursing workforce and the need to raise the profile of school nursing.
She further explained, “School Nurses are specialist community public health nurses who play a crucial role in promoting the health and wellbeing of children and young people. They serve an important role in the primary health care team, providing a link between education settings, home, and the community. It is vital that the school nursing profession collectively find a way to raise their profile to improve understanding of the value of the School Nurse role, which is underpinned by a child rights-based approach to delivering services to children and young people.”
Sharon White, CEO of the School and Public Health Nurses Association (SAPHNA), added, “As highlighted in Dr Allan’s report and other leading reports, the health and wellbeing needs of our children are escalating and becoming more complex. Long waiting lists for treatments such as dental care and child and adolescent mental health services, coupled with the impact of wider determinants of health, particularly poverty, are giving rise to distressed, unhealthy, and unhappy children.”
White stressed the importance of prevention and an upstream model, which has been proven to work. She urged for urgent reinvestment in public health school nursing to begin to stem the tide. She also encouraged people to join the SAPHNA’s campaign for a #ASchoolNurseinEverySchool.
Shona Gray, a mother of two from Aberdeenshire, has recently completed RGU’s Nursing MSc Advanced Practice and a PGDip qualification in school nursing. She is now a trainee specialist school nurse for NHS Grampian and is working in schools in Bucksburn, Hazlehead, and Northfield. Despite the challenges of balancing study with a busy homelife, Gray believes returning to study to pursue a career in nursing was one of the best decisions she has ever made.
She said, “The support received from RGU has allowed me to grow as a practitioner and empowered me to be the best version of myself, allowing me to advocate and promote the rights of children and young people, delivering early intervention and ensuring children and young people reach their full potential.” She also highlighted the importance of school nurses’ focus on early intervention and prevention to ensure there are no health and social inequalities that may prevent children and young people from reaching their full potential.
The SAPHNA is currently urging people to sign their petition, #ASchoolNurseinEverySchool, and has launched a survey titled “The Forgotten Frontline: Public Health School Nursing” to reveal the realities of School & Public Health Nursing in the UK.