School Nurse Perspectives of Challenges and How They Perceive Success in Their Professional Nursing Roles

Abstract

This is a phenomenological study of 25 school nurses employed in a large, urban school district in the midwestern section of the United States. In addition to school nursing, the participants also had professional work experience in other nursing specialties. Thematic analysis of the data focused on the challenges faced by the school nurses, their views of school nursing success, and elements of job satisfaction. Overall, the school nurses reported the positive aspects of school nursing outweigh the negative aspects of their jobs. Developmental changes were reported among the school nurses in this study as they reflected on how they perceived their nursing career over time and during different seasons of their lives.

The role of school nurses in delivering accessible health services for primary and secondary school students in Hong Kong

“…These findings were consistent with the other studies reported the essential role of school nursing including the collaboration and partnership with other community stakeholders to promote the health and well‐being of students in school settings in UK and USA (NASN 2001, Welsh Assembly Government 2009). Nurses are in a unique position by virtue of their education and diversity of practice arenas to contribute to the health of students in the school setting (Brainerd 1998, NASN 2001, Smith & Firmin 2009, Lee et al 2010).…”

Determinants of the intention of elementary school nurses to adopt a redefined role in health promotion at school

“…In order of importance, nurses perceived that this health-promotion role would allow them to feel valued in the performance of their duties. The feeling of being undervalued, especially by their peers, is a recurrent theme from school nurses [2,6,10,11,54,55]. A systematic review on health promotion and the role of school nurses showed that perceived worth is a constraint to the success of school nursing [10].…”

“…A systematic review on health promotion and the role of school nurses showed that perceived worth is a constraint to the success of school nursing [10]. Smith and Firminn [11] reported that nurses in care settings, as a group, are held in greater respect and value, and conversely, school nurses isolated from nurse colleagues in a milieu are not well recognised by the nursing core. Explanations for this seem to be twofold: First, health outcomes for children are not always tangible in the short-term and the lack of evaluation of their health-promotion practices makes it hard to demonstrate the effectiveness of their work.…”

An Information Needs Assessment of School Nurses in a Metropolitan County

“…Even when managing only one school, the school nurse operates in a variety of settings including the health office, classroom, auditorium, and student home and is often required to report to administrators and school boards who do not fully realize the complexities of the nursing and health sciences fields. 8 …”