Primary School Nursing

Program activities

Primary School Nursing Program activities include:

• A health assessment is offered to all school entrant students and other students in any grade where a parent, teacher or nurse has a concern.
  The health assessment of students includes:
  • Administration of the School Entrant Health Questionnaire for parents, to seek information regarding their child's health, parental concern, and to obtain consent for the nurse to undertake the assessment
  • A distance vision screening of preparatory students if they have not had a recent test or the children whose parents or teachers are concerned about their vision
  • A targeted hearing test of children where concerns have been identified
  • Guidance and reassurance to parents about their concerns identified through the School Entrant Health Questionnaire or via the Student Referral questionnaire
  • Health assessments of students with additional needs, newly enrolled students from overseas, students referred, and those attending English Language Centres
• Health promotion and education activities through both specific activities (eg. group sessions) and opportunistically through daily contact with students, teachers or parents in line with program goals including immunisation, safety and injury prevention, nutrition, positive parenting and asthma management
• Resourcing of school communities by providing support and information, to facilitate increased awareness and knowledge of health issues
• Development of strategies to assist families in accessing specific local family support services
• Referral of identified conditions to another health service where appropriate for further assessment and treatment
• Follow-up assessments of students with previously identified health conditions to check progress and health gain (usually within 6-12 months).