School Nursing and Primary Care: The new frontline?

This chapter seeks to illustrate how school nurses and others in primary care are able to work with children and young people, despite a quite contradictory policy context, with some varied demands on their time. The role of nurses working in these settings will involve both face-to-face work with children, young people and their families, but will also a level of advice giving to other professionals without a healthcare training, and enabling them to use the relationships they have with students and pupils, to improve mental health. Working outside of the healthcare team in a culture which has other priorities can be challenging and potentially isolating, although the level of autonomy offered can be very freeing. For some nurses working completely outside the traditional systems can bring even more freedom and reward.