Primary School Nursing

Health promotion initiatives

The 2003 Primary School Nursing Program State Forum provided a platform for nurses to present new initiatives and share new knowledge with their colleagues. 

The following provides an overview of three presentations along with supporting material provided on the day.

Farm safety for children - Grampians Region

The Primary School Nurses (Grampians Region) developed a 'Farm Matt' based on the Victorian Farmers Federation Farmsafe concept.

Nurses set up the 'Farm Matt' elements in a hazardous and unsafe way then discuss potential hazards on the farm. The aim is for students to identify hazards and "fix" the unsafe farm. The children work through the farm model and make each area into a safe place to work and play.

This is a hands-on, interactive approach for the students. The areas targeted include Water Safety, Chemical Safety, Machinery Safety, Animal Safety and Sunsmart.

The Primary School Nurses developed the initiative in conjunction with Country Fire Authority, Police in Schools, Victoria Farmers Federation, Farmsafe, Workcover, Road Traffic Authority.

The target 16 May, 2006 Grade 6, their families and the wider community.

For more information, see Farm safety for children - Grampians Region (PPT - 75Kb).

Informing quality responses to the school entrant health questionnaire - Western Region

Nurses in the Western Region noted that they were receiving very poor responses from parents of Prep students, to the question relating to testes on the School Entrant Health Questionnaire. An analysis of anecdotal evidence investigating the reason for this question being either unanswered or inappropriately answered, discovered that there is a lack of understanding of the question. It appeared that the limited understanding was linked to a high proportion of families whose first language was not English.

A small group of nurses in the Western region made a commitment to develop a visual tool that crossed the barriers of both language and literacy and better enable parents to answer the question. Consultations were undertaken with health and academic professionals resulting in the development of an anatomical model.

The model was developed to demonstrate the position of testes and was checked for anatomical accuracy with a Professor at the Royal Children's Hospital. Three nurses piloted the use of the model to determine its effectiveness when talking to parents. The results of the pilot study were positive. School Nurses found that having used the model at parent information sessions and in individual parent consultations, reduced the number of parents needing to be followed up as there was an immediate understanding by parents of the question. Further, there was a reduction in time required for ethnic teacher aid assistance.

For more information, see Informing quality responses to the school entrant health questionnaire - Western Region (PPT - 131Kb)

What's happening in UK school nursing? - Eastern Metropolitan Region

One of the primary school nurses shared her experiences and learnings of a visit to school nursing programs in the United Kingdom.

The Teddington, Twickenham and Hamptons Primary Care Trust employ school nurses during school term. The number of hours worked is based on the school population that is, a full time nurse would work with approximately 1,200 students across several primary schools and one secondary school.

Nurses are responsible for the immunisation program, height, weight and vision screening with year 1 students. Also, health education programs are delivered to secondary school and junior primary school students. The school nursing teams have a number of portfolio areas in which nurses can develop expertise in specific health issue and share information with each other.

The programs experienced are shared with Victorian School Nursing Program - the challenges of a perceived role of the school nurse by schools, access to space and utilities within the school, being acknowledged as a valuable member of the school team, issues of travel, education and support and parent attendance at information sessions.

School nurses in North Wales have a very similar function to those in the Primary Care Trust with immunisation, height, weight and vision screening being a primary focus. Nurses in Wales also work across both primary and secondary schools.

Both programs in North Wales and the Primary Care Trust are moving towards significant changes that will see a larger focus on primary prevention and away from the sole emphasis on seeking illness and disorders.