The UK needs at least 11,000 more school nurses to deal with the increasingly complex needs of young people after the pandemic, and help prevent them from developing serious mental health problems, researchers and campaigners say.
The number of school nurses has fallen by 35% in the last five years to about 2,000, and research by Oxford Brookes University, the University of Birmingham and the Oxford Health NHS foundation trust has found that a lack of long-term investment has resulted in many local areas scrapping the roles altogether.
The researchers surveyed 78 school nurses who shared feelings of exhaustion, stress and low morale, said Dr Georgia Cook, a researcher at Oxford Brookes University.
“Policymakers need to recognise and promote the integral role of school nurses in carrying out preventive public health work,” Cook said. “This should be supported by a sufficient workforce though, and bolstering school nurse numbers will be key to meeting the increasingly complex needs of children and young people in the wake of the pandemic.”
The survey found that three-quarters of school nurses reported an increase in their workload and 79% worried they were missing vulnerable children, with many feeling as if they were firefighting crises.
