School Nurses: A Qualitative Study

Newell, R. Gournay, K (2000) Mental Health Nursing - An evidence based approach. London: Churc

“Nearly 5 million children in the U.S. have some type of mental illness” (Goldberg). It is agreeable that there are many young children that deal with mental illness every day. Schools should be concerned for every student’s well being. Moreover, mental health is a part of a person’s overall “well being.” Therefore, schools need to make the mental health of students a stronger focus and implement plans to keep students mentally well and educated. To help create a positive, mental health aware environment where students feel open to seek help, high school students should be educated on how to be mentally healthy, be given a safe place to seek help, and be encouraged to monitor and maintain their mental health. Mental illness and mental health care need to be a more eminent priority in our society, starting with high schools.

As nurses, it extremely important for us to have an understanding of mental health so we can decrease the stigma in the healthcare profession. There shouldn’t be a difference between a “psychiatric nurse” and a “general nurse”. Since over 50% of the population suffers from a mental illness, both professions should be equally educated and sensitive towards health care issues.

In today 's society, people across the world are coming to a better understanding of the problem of mental illness, and the need to provide help for those suffering with mental health related issues in our communities. Sadly, this acceptance is still very low worldwide. In Ontario, “approximately 70% of mental health challenges have their onset in childhood or youth. In other words 1 in 5 children and youth have a mental health challenge” (Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, 2016).

The Pathway to Excellence® Program touts 12 practice standards or core concepts that are nursing centered including the ability of nurses to control the practice of nursing and recognition of nursing for achievement (see Appendix A) (American Nurses Credentialing Center, 2014). These standards have shown evidence of overall nursing satisfaction, which is a key influencer in nursing satisfaction and retention. Pella Regional Health Center provides a post-designation exemplar of participation in the Pathway to Excellence® Program. Key outcomes included that 99% of nurses felt a key part of quality improvement strategies, 96% felt they were a key part of changes to patient care standards, and 98% felt nurses were involved in professional development strategies (Drafahl, Beyer, & Chow, 2012). The designation confirms a supportive nursing environment with a practice based on standards

The title is “Why are nurses leaving? Findings from an initial qualitative study on nursing attrition”. The title is clear. The phenomena being studied is evident that while an abundance of data exist regarding the RN who stays at the bedside, few studies have explored the perceptions

Ruddick, F. (2013) ‘Promoting mental health and wellbeing’, Nursing Standard, 27 (24), pp.35-39 is the article that I found most beneficial and relevant that will enable me to explain and analyse research or evaluate ]my future role and professional practice as a mental health nurse in promoting the mental health and wellbeing of Patients. It is vital that all nurses see this as imperative and an aspect that should be prioritised alongside the other as they inevitably affect each other and act as preventative measures that will avert associated health conditions.

I also think the visual display of data in The 2015 [National Association of School Nurses] NASN School Nurse Survey (Mangena & Maughan, 2015) was well designed. I found that the age distribution pie chart was not without some difficulty of reading. The authors including the use of two different blues, which was closely related, and increased the difficulty of understanding which age group was implicated. Otherwise, I understood the data easily. The tables that included data from both, 2013 and 2015, were easily understood, and improved the understanding of the results generated with both surveys. Sadly, the survey reiterated what others have been informing nurses about; the need for more highly-educated nurses is apparent. Many organizations

To reduce the possibility of undue bias the researcher incorporated reflexive bracketing which "helps the researcher identify possible areas of bias or preconceived ideas and brackets them so that they have minimal effect on the study"(Conte, 2014). "The possible effect of the researcher's influence can be reduced through bracketing and reflexivity"(Jeanfreau & Jack, 2010). The research study used "Lincoln and Guba's established guidelines of value, applicability, consistency, and neutrality"(Conte, 2014). The set guidelines helped to eliminate any undue bias within the research. "The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the experience of work related losses for pediatric oncology nurses"(Conte, 2014).

Fourteen staff nurses participated in the focus group. The results of the focus group revealed a lack of clarity related to the intent of the study, documentation was an added burden, some felt it was a punitive measure for something

In Adults, blood Pressure readings where systolic and diastolic pressures fall below 120/80, are considered normal

About 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 experiences a severe mental disorder at least once in their lifetime. Over one-third of students with a mental health condition, age 14­–21 drops out—the highest dropout rate of any disability group. With these statistics, it shows how many people are not gaining support and are just giving up because they cannot find convenient help. If this issue is shown in the classroom, then the awareness rates will rise, making more establishments for support and treatment.

The school nurse is a vital member of the educational team. “Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) are at risk for school failure when their health needs are not met. Current studies have identified a strong connection between school success and health” (Baker, Hebbler, Davis-Alldritt, Anderson, & Knauer, 2015). The role of the school nurse is multi-faceted and combines clinical and educational aspects. School nurses strive to improve the health and wellness of students and teachers. This is accomplished by providing direct health care, preventative screenings, and health education.

The number 8.6 seems like a fairly small number. This number however, becomes much more substantial number when you recognize it is the percent of American children who currently have asthma, according to the Centers for Disease Control (Asthma, 2016). In a grade school with approximately four-hundred students, hypothetically, there would be approximately thirty-four children requiring interventions for asthma. On a daily basis, a school nurse will encounter numerous health conditions, such as diabetes and seizure disorders, that he or she must provide interventions for (Five). The purpose of this paper is to discuss school nursing as a community health nursing job, to describe my day shadowing Beth Hilleman, the school nurse at Jonesboro Grade School, and the specific details of this program.

Attending a nursing school is one thread that ties all nurses together. It is there when nurses’ education on mental health begins. The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) has set a skill standard that students will be able to demonstrate effective use of harm or risk reducing strategies in their practice (Cronenwett et al., 2008). A phenomenology study on nursing students provided multiple themes that spoke to the pitfalls in mental health nursing education. The themes included: development of fear of speaking to patients after reading their mental status and behavior in the chart, expiernce of uncomfortable feelings when discussing suicidal ideation with patients that were not forthcoming in assessment, and the obligation to meet the suicidal patient’s needs (provide an answer) instead of providing a therapeutic interaction (Scheckel & Nelson, 2014). A cross-sectional design study of nursing student’s attitudes toward suicide prevention revealed half of the students reported felt comfortable assessing suicide risk and had a positive attitude towards working with suicidal patients. At the same time, two-thirds of these students reported they do not believe suicidal patients tell anyone about their ideation and that there is little that can be done on a prevention level