ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSE AT MELVILLE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
School Health Services are delivered in all public secondary schools and colleges across Western Australia. Community Health Nurses provide first point of entry into the health system for children and adolescents and are the key health contact for the school. School staff and Community Health Nurses work in partnership to enhance the health, well-being and educational outcomes for individuals and groups of students.
Our Community Health Nurses collaborate with the Student Services team to provide care for students with particular difficulties. They are skilled in assessing adolescent health needs and frequently engage in health counselling to identify issues, risks and protective factors, provide advice, brief interventions, referral to other services and follow-up care.
The Health Centre, located in the Student Services area, is a place where adolescents can either drop in (ideally at recess or lunch) or make an appointment to discuss health and well-being issues. The recommended pathway for attending the Health Centre is that the student requests permission to leave class by showing his/her diary to the teacher. The student may then walk to Student Services and sign in using their Academy card at which point they may see the Community Nurse.
If deemed unwell enough to be excused from school, the Community Nurse will phone the student’s parent/carer. To improve overall resiliency, we discourage mobile phone messaging between students and parents during the school day as miscommunication regarding illness or injury may lead to confusion and angst for the parent.
