School nursing
School nurses are specialist public health nurses who provide support to school aged children. They focus on prevention and early intervention helping children to maximise their health and wellbeing and avoid more serious health concerns in later life.
What is included in the school nurse role
School nurses take a comprehensive approach to children and young people’s health and wellbeing through holistic assessments.
The school nurse role concentrates primarily on providing support around the following ten priority areas:
- emotional health and wellbeing
- substance misuse
- child protection
- domestic abuse
- looked after children
- homelessness
- youth justice
- young carers
- sexual health
- transitions
Where more specialised support is required, school nurses can make referrals into other services ensuring children receive the correct care and support at the right time.
You can find out more about the support school nurses provide under each area.
School nurse recruitment
In 2018 we committed to increasing the school nursing workforce and we have supported the recruitment of over 216 additional school nurses across Scotland since that time.