School Health Services Overview
School nurses function as a part of the school’s multi-disciplinary team to bridge the gap between health, wellness and learning. Working with parents, other health professionals and other school staff, the school nurse provides services for students that promote optimum health for academic success. The school nurse provides the expertise to identify, assess, plan, implement and evaluate the health needs of the school community.
Program emphasis is directed toward prevention of disease and promotion of health utilizing health services, health counseling, and health education. Many students are at risk for not succeeding in school because their chronic illness may interfere with their attending school. School nurses support their attending school and help reduce interruptions to their learning. They also identify and provide plans and treatments for students with special health needs in order that those children may attend school. School nurses play an integral role in assisting families to access health care for their children. Prevention efforts include group education, individual intervention and school wide education programs on such topics as Tobacco/Drug Use Prevention, HIV Prevention, and Adolescents or Teenager Pregnancy Prevention, malaria, cholera, obesity, diabetes, breast, cervical and prostate cancers etc. which are communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Do Ghanaian public and for that matter private schools needs school health services?
Absolutely YES. The school health services professional is defined in COMAR as a physician, certified nurse practitioner, or registered nurse, with experience and or training in working with children or school health programs.
A clue from advanced country local school systems, suggest that there should be assistance from local health departments, here ministry of health and or Ghana health service which are responsible for providing school health services to all public and private schools.
What do school nurses do?
School nurses support student success. They are an integral part of school multi-disciplinary teams, bridging the gap between health and wellness and learning. School nurses identify student health-related concerns and makes accommodations and/or interventions to supports learning. They also focus on early detection and correction of health problems. School nurses promote and protect the optimal health of students. They work with families and students to develop individualized health care plans for students with special health needs. They provide health counseling to students and their families, as well as school staff. They identify and report school environmental concerns.
They determine which nursing services can be delegated, and provide supervision for the one to whom he or she delegates such as classroom teacher.
When there is a need for a student to receive medication in school, safe and proper administration is essential.
Schools play a critical role in improving the dietary and physical activity behaviors of children and adolescents. Schools can create environments supportive of students’ efforts to eat healthy and be active by implementing policies and practices that support healthy eating and regular physical activity and by providing opportunities for students to learn about and practice these behaviors.
The health of students is linked to their academic success. Both physical activity and healthy eating may help improve academic achievement.
Healthy eating and regular physical activity play a powerful role in preventing obesity and chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and stroke — the three leading causes of death among adults aged 18 years or older.
CDC synthesized research and best practices related to promoting healthy eating and physical activity in schools.