Interprofessionally Developed Role Profile for a School Nurse

The Health and Social Work departments of BFH are conducting a Delphi study with the aim of creating an interprofessional developed role profile for a School Nurse.

Factsheet

Schools involved School of Health Professions
School of Social Work
Institute(s) Nursing
Research unit(s) Innovation in the Field of Health Care and Human Resources Development
Strategic thematic field Thematic field "Caring Society"
Funding organisation BFH
Duration 01.06.2023 - 30.04.2024
Head of project Margarithe Ch. Feuz-Schlunegger
Project staff Vanda Wrubel
Margarithe Ch. Feuz-Schlunegger
Dr. Christoph Golz
Tanja Siegenthaler
Keywords School Nurse, Role Profile, Delphi study

Situation

In schools, children from different linguistic, cultural, religious, and social backgrounds come together. They are in various stages of development, and pupils' learning capacity is closely linked to their well-being and health. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that teachers face limitations regarding the health needs of their pupils and that the healthcare for pupils should be improved. New healthcare models in schools are needed to ensure easy access to health services for pupils, relieve teachers, and support parents. The potential of a School Nurse lies in strengthening pupils' health and identifying physical and mental illnesses early. The role can enrich society by providing accessible health services for pupils, promoting coordination with family practices, and encouraging more targeted use of emergency units. The goal of the study is to develop a role profile for a School Nurse in an interprofessional manner with practical input. This aims to identify overlaps with other professions and address interprofessional gaps in healthcare more effectively. This study is a follow-up project to the SMiLE study.

Course of action

The role profile will be developed using a normative Delphi study. 1. Preparation: Based on a literature review of School Nurses' competencies, a theory-based online questionnaire is developed and tested through a pre-test, with potential revisions. 2. Normative Delphi Study: The questionnaire is distributed to experts from the healthcare and education sectors. The Content Validity Index (CVI) is calculated at the item and scale levels. Qualitative open-ended responses are thematically analyzed. 3. Interprofessional Consensus