Army of 100 ‘wellbeing’ nurses posted to NSW schools
An army of nurses will be posted to primary and high schools to treat and refer pupils dealing with mental health issues under a dramatic state government plan to improve student wellbeing.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
An army of nurses will be posted to primary and high schools to treat and refer pupils dealing with mental health and medical issues under a dramatic State government plan to improve student wellbeing.
Two years after a successful pilot involving six nurses was trialled, the Government is taking up the model with $46.5 million to be spent on a statewide rollout of 100 “Wellbeing and Health In-Reach Nurses” nurses over the next four years.
The registered nurses, who will be employed by NSW Health but will not wear uniforms, will be charged with treating and triaging students for ailments ranging from playground injuries to mental health and eating disorders or HSC concerns while working closely with school counsellors, organisations such as Headspace and the local GP.
The nurses will be trained in mental health although many of them will be drawn from areas of child and family health or drug and alcohol.
To be embedded in areas of need, there will be one nurse allocated for two schools – or four in smaller regional areas.
A brainchild of Mental Health Minister Bronnie Taylor, the program is designed to fill a gap in schools while also providing students with another adult to whom they could confide in about their concerns.
Ms Taylor, who was a breast care nurse, said an evaluation report of the joint NSW Health and Education Department pilot had found the six embedded nurses had dealt with a wide-ranging caseload.
However, addressing mental health concerns and providing social and behavioural support were among the most common issues.
“Counsellors are important, but sometimes a kid won’t see one because of the stigma attached with mental health issues, but they might go see a nurse,” she said.
“We’ve found they’ve gone to see a nurse for a physical issue, but then they end up talking about mental health or about what is really bothering them. Some kids don’t need long-term counselling, but they do need their Psoriasis treated.
“The nurses will provide a missing link in that there are a lot of services out there, but it can get really confusing for families and so what this program will do is connect the students with the services they need outside of school. And they don’t wear uniforms which makes them more real.”
Started as a trial in 2018, the pilot involved nurses being embedded in Cooma, Tumut and Young before it was extended to Deniliquin, Lithgow and Murwillumbah this year.
The evaluation found mental health to be among the top five reasons why a student sought out a nurse last year, along with the need for social support, behavioural issues, family and peer relationships and physical ailments.
The nurses saw around 60 individual students per month, some of whom had multiple sessions.
Nurse Nikki Rabbitte, who works at Monaro High School and its feeder primary schools, said about 80 per cent of students that came to see her had a mental health issue.
However, she said many of them sought her out firstly for a physical ailment such as not feeling well.
“I think we are really filling a gap in the community. We roster ourselves with the school counselling services so that there is always someone there if a student needs us,” she said.
“What I did find, which really surprised me when I started, was that 80 per cent of young people I see have mental health issues.
“I’ll have them come see me because of a sports injury and they’ll say they are not travelling really well and it is actually a mental health issue. Young people will often put you on notice and see how confidential you are before opening up about what is really going on.”
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the expansion was in acknowledgment of the added stress COVID-19 had placed on families.
Nurses would posted to metro and regional areas of most need with both the health and education departments working from suicide and self-harm data along with information from the Communities and Justice Department.
“Health will fund these positions but work with the Department of Education, using data and evidence to place the nurses in areas of most need,” Mr Perrottet said.
MORE NEWS
‘Out of control’: Teen allegedly attacked with axe, kidnapped
A Northern Rivers woman stands accused of kidnapping a teenage girl and robbing her before she escaped from a car in an alleged wild episode on a busy roadway.
Mayor’s political rival to join ranks of southwest Sydney council
A controversial former councillor who distributed a fake Islamophobic flyer about his rival’s wife and MP will return to a southwest Sydney council after scoring a win at the ballot box.