Number of school nurses ‘needs to double’

The next government will need to double the number of school nurses to ensure that all children have access to a school nurse, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned.

Research commissioned by the RCN showed that, on average, one school nurse in the state sector covers at least ten schools, caring for an average of 2,400 pupils. The RCN says this means there are less than 3,000 school nurses for the whole UK, amounting to just 4.5 per constituency.

A survey of 1,200 school nurses across the UK found that only 17% thought there were enough school nurses in their area. The figure fell to just one in ten for those working in the state sector, which employed more than three-quarters of those surveyed.

Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed also believed that their workload was too heavy and were unhappy with the resources provided to them. Over half reported feeling that they were “stretched too thinly” and unable to provide a good service, because of workload pressures and lack of staff.

More than three-quarters of the respondents also complained that they were not paid enough to compensate the demands and responsibilities of the job. Career progression was also found to be an issue with three-quarters of those surveyed, with almost a quarter saying that they were unable to take time off to undergo further training and others claiming that they faced difficulty in getting funding for training.

However, many of those questioned in the RCN survey cited the positive impact their work had on schoolchildren, with a large number reporting a major improvement in children’s health and lifestyle and the level of uptake of their services in schools as an example.

Dr Beverly Malone, General Secretary of the RCN, said: “It’s clear from our survey just how few school nurses we have. We know that in many parts of the UK children do not have access to an adequate school nurse service and this is simply unacceptable. School nurses do a wonderful job under difficult circumstances.”

Dr Malone added: “We are calling on the next government to strengthen the role of the school nurse and develop a clear strategy to double their numbers and make funding available for every school nurse to have the opportunity to access specialist training. We also need the next government to make a concerted effort to increase the number of black and minority ethnic school nurses to better reflect the school population.”

(KMcA/SP)