A new study that forms part of the Australian Nurses Working in Schools Project has warned that the perception of school nurses needs to change, starting with better recognition of their expertise beyond offering direct medical care to students.
Many people think of school nurses as the people in a school building responsible for patching up a scraped knee, confirming a fever and checking students for lice.
It’s not that they don’t do those things. It’s that those tasks are only a very small part of what Eva Stone views as a significant role within a school.
Stone, manager of district health at Jefferson County Public Schools, a large district in Louisville, Kentucky, with about 100,000 students, has served as a school nurse for more than two decades, after working in a hospital setting and in public health.
School nurses, she notes, have more access to children — seven or eight hours a day — and their families than really any other health care professional. It’s unique, and it’s also full of opportunity.
Anita Moyes* RN, PhD Edith Cowan University, WA, Australia Email A.Moyes@ecu.edu.au Elizabeth Rankin RN. RM. Grad.Cert NursSouth Australian School Nurses Association, SA, Australia Chelsey Williams
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