Nurses for all schools welcomed
Putting nurses in schools would mean students are getting the mental health help they need before they reach crisis point, an expert says.
National director of Training and Development Services Barbara Docherty has done research through Auckland University on trained nurses in schools, and is a clinical lecturer in behavioural health.
She supports Labour deputy leader Jacinda Ardern’s calls for a nurse in every secondary school in a bid to lower youth suicide rates, but only if those nurses had the right training.
In 2012 the Government committed to getting extra nurses into decile 3 schools. They were already in schools that were decile 1 or 2.
But Docherty said children across all deciles were at risk when it came to mental health.
Before nurses were put into schools, a national framework would need to be developed to ensure consistency. The gap that needed to be filled was not about mental illness, but mental health – getting to issues students might have before they turned into something more serious.
‘‘People are looking for diagnoses and treatment rather than looking to see how they can work with young people for early prevention before any visible symptoms appear,’’ Docherty said.
Secondary Principals’ Council chairman James Morris said everyone he had spoken to agreed schools needed more support. Nurses in schools were recognised as beneficial, but he had not been involved in discussions for the scheme to go beyond the lowest decile schools.
Canterbury’s Darfield High School, where Morris is principal, had a nurse in once a week. He agreed that, with such a broad range of students at any one school, there would be teenagers from families who had trouble getting access to primary health services, no matter what the decile.
When asked if schools were being asked to take on too much when it came to the wellbeing of their students, Morris said schools were the centres of their communities, and so were well placed to do many things, which could include providing health support. There was a risk that could distract schools from their core function.
Tawa College, a decile 8 school in Wellington, had a nurse in twice a week, and a GP once, principal Murray Lucas said. Having them come in was invaluable, he said.
He agreed with Docherty, that early intervention was key. ’’These days if you pick up something very early you can deal with it. Often if you leave it, it can be more difficult.’’
A permanent nurse would be helpful, he said. He did not think the idea of having a nurse in every school was unrealistic, as in the long term the social cost of treating teens or young adults with serious mental health problems would ease.
The Ministry of Health did not hold a total figure for the number of nurses based in schools, as they could be employed under schoolbased health services by the Government, or a district health board. They could also be employed by the school directly.
District health boards, primary health care organisations and school boards of trustees decided how to address the health needs of students in mid to high decile schools. The focus on early intervention for teens included provision of school-based health services for the most vulnerable in secondary schools, in low decile schools.