School nurses' workloads: how should they be prioritised?

Area of Science:

• Public Health Nursing
• Healthcare Management
• Evidence-Based Practice

Background:

• The school nurse role has significantly evolved to address contemporary health needs of students.
• Increasingly complex health demands necessitate adaptable workload prioritization strategies for school nurses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a systematic, evidence-based framework for school nurse managers to prioritize competing health interventions.
• To examine the broader context of school healthcare delivery and task prioritization.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and analysis of the school nursing context.
• Development of a prioritization model based on evidence, patient perspectives, and clinical effectiveness.

Main Results:

• A proposed model suggests prioritizing interventions using available evidence, young people's perspectives, and clinical effectiveness.
• This evidence-informed strategy may create conflicts with government-directed initiatives, potentially impacting national targets.

Conclusions:

• A systematic approach to prioritizing school nursing interventions can improve service planning and commissioning.
• Balancing evidence-based practice with national directives presents a challenge for school nurse managers.