0-19 Sheffield Service – School Nursing and Vaccination Team

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0-19 Sheffield Service – School Nursing and Vaccination Team

Who are school nurses?

School nurses are specialist community public health nurses (SCPHNs) who work with school-aged children and young people and their families to improve health and wellbeing outcomes and reduce inequalities and vulnerabilities. They are Nursing and Midwifery Council registered nurses or midwives who have undertaken additional training and qualifications to become SCPHNs. School nurses lead the Healthy Child Programme: 5-19 and are essential in ensuring every child has the best start in life.

School nurses are supported by mixed teams of health workers and work alongside other members of the wider children’s workforce. They are skilled, knowledgeable, experienced and – vitally – trusted by families and stakeholders.

What do they do?

In Sheffield, the service offers a range of activities and advice and signposting to improve children’s health in the following high impact areas; promoting health lifestyles, healthy weight management support, sleep difficulties, continence, supporting children and young people with developmental concerns, keeping children and young people safe and well, making transitions into new schools.

School nurses bring clinical expertise and knowledge to a wider system to improve population health and reduce health inequalities, this can happen in a number of ways:

Promoting the health, wellbeing and protection of all children and young people in all settings throughout their school aged years.
Identifying the health needs of individuals and communities using evidence-based assessment tools.
Co-producing programmes with children, young people, and families.
Planning work collaboratively in partnership with the multi-agency team to address local need and national health priorities outlined by the NHS.
Using research and audits to deliver an evidence-based service with clear outcomes, with evaluation as an integral part of the process. (School and Public Health Nursing Association, SAPHNA, 2022).
Working with other agencies and older children who wish to make changes to young peoples self esteem, build personal confidence, make healthy decisions about, drugs, alcohol, smoking, relationships and sexual health.

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Looking after your teeth during COVID-19

We know how difficult it is at the moment keeping your family active and trying to maintain daily routines while we are staying at home but it is still important to look after yourself which includes looking after your teeth.

To make sure you have a healthy smile do the following things everyday:

Brush teeth last thing at night and another time during the day; children need some help with brushing until they are 7 years old.
When children are off school or nursery it’s easy to forget to brush.
Use fluoride toothpaste; remember to spit out the toothpaste after brushing but do not rinse all the tooth-strengthening fluoride away by squishing lots of water around your mouth!
Eat less sugar, less often.
Avoid sugary food and drink before bedtime.
Only have sugary food and drink at mealtimes – even though it’s very tempting to eat lots of treats while we are stuck at home.

During the coronavirus lockdown, dentists are not seeing patients for routine treatment. If you are having toothache or dental problems telephone your own dentist in the first instance for advice. If you do not have a dentist or it is a weekend/bank holiday please call NHS 111.

Our team in schools

Reception and Year 1 (age 4 to 5)

All parents/carers are offered an opportunity to consent to screening of height, weight, hearing and vision. When consent is obtained all screening will take place in school and the vision check will be carried out by an orthoptist from Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

Secondary Schools

The School Nursing Service continues into secondary schools where it provides a range of services for teenagers.

We use a mixture of displays, workshops and confidential nurse led clinics to meet the health needs of young people in secondary school and further education.

This includes advice and signposting for: