The workload of school nurses risks undermining essential support for children with long-term health conditions, according to a national children’s charity.
A survey of school nurses by the National Children’s Bureau found 90% said high workloads and limited time and resources challenged their ability to support children with long-term health needs.
Nearly four-in-ten school nurses work across 10 or more schools and some estimates suggest just 2,606 NHS school nurses support the 8.4m school-age children in England.
The survey—completed by one in eight of school nurses and published in the report Nursing in Schools—revealed these nurses are ‘significantly less confident’ in providing help to pupils with serious health conditions compared to those working in fewer schools.
The report showed the nurses were capable of dealing with long-term conditions, such as asthma, epilepsy, anaphylaxis and eczema, but it argued more funding was needed to ease the workload.
It also found only 42% of school nurses were comfortable helping to treat diabetes, suggesting an urgent need for better training in this area.
‘The day-to-day work of school nurses is varied and vital,’ said Anna Feuchtwang, chief executive of the National Children’s Bureau.
‘Alongside their support of pupils with serious health conditions and disabilities, school nurses are increasingly called on to provide vital expertise on child protection, mental health, sex education and bullying.
‘This is on top of their more traditional roles in providing vaccinations and raising awareness of healthy lifestyles.
‘We need the Department of Health to adequately fund local authorities’ public health work, so they can recruit and train school nurses in sufficient numbers to ensure their unique contribution to the health of children is protected.’
