Australia has had school nurses for more than 100 years – but we don't use them enough

• It specifically asks:
  What can be done to establish stronger partnerships between schools, local health networks and primary health networks?
• What can be done to establish stronger partnerships between schools, local health networks and primary health networks?

School nurses are real nurses

• It’s a common misconception among students and staff that school nurses are not “real nurses”.
• I come across this in my work with school nurses – people think nurses are only trained to work in hospitals, even though a large group specialise in working outside them.

What do they do?

• The hours school nurses work and the work they do (even the job title they have) often depends on their employer.
• Some school nurses primarily care for students with acute health issues such as illness or injury.
• Beyond this, nurses can coordinate health care for boarding school students, or attend school camps and sporting events.

Health promotion and screening

Some school nurses focus on health promotion and early interventions. This can includes screening for speech, vision or hearing problems. It can also include working with teachers to deliver health education about topics such as vaping and respectful relationships.

Read more:
Vaping and behaviour in schools: what does the research tell us?

Nurses as a bridge between two worlds

• School nurses are the bridge between health and education: while well informed about the health system, they also have insight into how complex schools and classrooms can be.
• School nurses can help young people be - and stay - at school.
• School nurses can also be advocates for children, and help them beyond the school gates.

We need more information

• Despite the many benefits, we don’t know exactly how many school nurses there are, or even how many students they provide care to as this information isn’t publicly available.
• Some sources suggest there are approximately 1,500 school nurses in Australia but this is likely to be an underestimate.
• With the school reform agreement there is a major opportunity to improve health services to students by improving their access to school nurses.