Pupils in the dark about school nurse services

These are the concerns raised in a “lightening review” of school nursing services conducted by the Children’s Commissioner for England.

The study draws on a survey of 800 school nurses with a majority voicing frustrations that the “bureaucratic and reactive” nature of their work hampered their ability to build relationships with students in order to advise them about health and wellbeing.

The report states: “School nurses are facing difficulties in doing important proactive work, as they are required to take a more reactive role by responding to immediate needs and a less proactive role in delivering health education.”

Some nurses said that it was the schools themselves that inhibited their proactive work, with 22 per cent of the nurses reporting schools that were reluctant to cover topics such as sexual health, contraception, sexual abuse, bullying, alcohol and drugs.