Skip to main content

School Nurses

Volume 892: debated on Thursday 22 May 1975

The text on this page has been created from Hansard archive content, it may contain typographical errors.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will list in the Official Report the duties of school nurses with health visitors' certificates and the duties of school nurses without health visitors' certificates.

The duties of a school nurse with a health visitors' certificate are to:

  • (i) Provide the principal health link between the home, the school, the family doctor and other agencies, particularly on matters relating to the health of the schoolchild;
  • (ii) Discuss relevant home problems with the head teacher and in turn relate school problems to the home background;
  • (iii) Work within the school as school nurse and health educator;
  • (iv) Be available to discuss medical and social problems with the school doctor
  • (v) Carry out health surveys as and when required;
  • (vi) In liaison with the district community physician or his staff deal with any outbreak of infection amongst school children and give any necessary advice to the families concerned;
  • (vii) Give support to the homes of children with emotional or behavour problems or other handicaps
  • (viii) Within the school, arrange and attend, as necessary, school medical inspections, screening tests for sight and hearing, hygiene inspections, special clinic sessions and immunisation programmes, and ensure that proper records are kept;
  • (ix) Have special responsibilities for all handicapped children.
  • The health visitor heads the nursing team in the school health service and is supported by State registered nurses, State enrolled nurses and lay assistants. As a member of the team, the school nurse without health visitor's certificate will be allocated, by the health visitor, duties within those listed above and will be responsible to her for them and for reporting to her any problems encountered.