A new study has highlighted the need for a national approach to school nursing, with Australian students receive varying levels of support depending on their school and location.

Edith Cowan University (ECU) researchers mapped the scope of nursing work and models of delivery in Australian primary and secondary schools.

In a time where Australian children were going to school with increasingly complex health needs, students need access to school nurses now more than ever, said lead author Dr Anita Moyes from ECU’s School of Nursing and Midwifery.

“Australia has had school nurses for many decades, but research investigating what they do and how these services are organised has lagged.

“Our study shows school nurses provide a wide range of interventions, but access is highly inequitable.”

The research found inconsistencies in services provided in states and territories, education sector and school type.

“School nurses should be available to all Australian children, no matter where they live or where they go to school. Our study suggests that families and young people have access to vastly different nursing services in schools depending on arbitrary factors such as geographical location.

“This is incredibly unfair, and it’s because we don’t have a national approach to nursing services in schools,” said Dr Moyes.

Let the teachers teach and nurses nurse

The World Health Organisation recommends comprehensive school health services be provided by health workers, not teachers.

Health needs in schools are becoming increasingly complex, ranging from administering medication to how concussion is managed. Teachers are often tasked with responding to student health needs and the demand is now so great that it is outstripping capacity, said Dr Moyes.

“A high proportion of Australian children have additional health and developmental needs.

“Australian school staff, such as teachers and education assistants, regularly administer student medications, respond to acute life-threatening emergencies such as anaphylaxis and serious medical conditions including diabetes and epilepsy. Some of the most vulnerable children have the least access to school nurses.

 “We have this workforce of registered nurses who are entirely capable of providing high level school health support, and we’re not using them as effectively as we could.”

An equitable solution

A national approach to school nursing service delivery, policy and workforce planning would make things more equitable for children, families and schools, the ECU research recommends.

“Australian school students and their families are the most impacted by this lack of equity. But it also has implications for schools who are wrestling with increasingly complex student health needs.

“It is really unfair, and a national approach to school nursing would help fix this inequity,” said Dr Moyes.

There was a real opportunity to strengthen school nursing service delivery, leading to better outcomes for children and young people, she said.

“The bottom line is healthy children learn better. A reimagined approach should be one that recognises and builds upon the existing workforce and values the expertise nurses bring to schools.”

The study, Scope of Nursing Work and Models of Service Delivery in Australian Primary and Secondary Schools: A scoping review, is published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing.