School Nurse Pilot Project

Created by Julia Taylor

An innovative collaboration between the Tasmanian Health Organisation - North West Youth Health Service and Wynyard High School.

50%36%

7%7%

Reason for Accessing the Nurse

This graph shows stu-dents’/clients’ main reason for accessing

'drop-in' appointments.

Mental Health Sexual HealthBullying Family Issues

“It was good to talk to someone

who would listen”

Grade 8, Male

“Our Health Nurse has helped

me in so many ways”

Grade 9, Female

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

'Drop-in' Appointments Accessed by Gender

On the left is participa-tion in ‘drop-in’ ap-

pointments in schools where only these are

offered (100% accessing are female). On the

right is participation in ‘drop-in’ appointments under the new service

model.

FemaleMale

KEY FINDINGS• 88% of students/clients who saw the nurse reported

the service was either ‘very helpful’ or ‘somewhat helpful’.

• Students/clients accessing ‘drop-in’ appointments were equally distributed by grade, with 25% from each grade; 7, 8, 9, and 10.

• 46% of students/clients were referred on to other services, most commonly psychologists and GPs.

In 2012, the Tasmanian Health Organisation - North West Youth Health Service implemented an innovative pilot project at Wynyard High School.Project Objectives· To pilot a new model of service delivery.· To provide a client-friendly health service

to students/clients at Wynyard High School.

· To provide equitable access to one-on-one, confidential, client-centred health promotion, health education, early intervention and referral pathways for Wynyard High School students.

· To maximise participation rates across age ranges and gender.

· To decrease stigma associated with accessing the nurse and make it a ‘normal’ part of school life.

· To increase students’ confidence in accessing health professionals.

· To encourage student participation in the planning and implementation of the service.

Project Outcomes Increased student/client confidence in

accessing health professionals. Created cultural change within the

school, encouraging students/clients to seek help if needed.

Created a supportive health promoting network between the Youth Health Service and parents, teachers and students/clients.

Directly impacted health decisions of young people engaging in the service which has the potential to impact their lives moving forward and the community as a whole.

Developed, implemented and evaluated a model of service delivery which can be utilised in other areas.