School nurses face poor pay and career prospects.

One in four school nurses are on the most junior nursing grades (D or E), despite many having 25 years' nursing experience and 10 years' experience in school nursing, according to a survey carried out by the RCN.

School nurses also saw their career prospects as poor, with 73 per cent saying it would be difficult to progress from their current grade.

The survey was based on questionnaires sent to 2,211 nurses whose title was recorded as 'school nurse', and replies were received from 1,291 school nurses across the UK, a 65 per cent response rate.

Two-thirds of all school nurses - and 79 per cent of those in state schools - work part-time, typically around 26 hours a week mostly on term-time contracts. Around half of those only work during term time but would prefer full-time employment. State sector school nurses cover an average of eight schools - one secondary school and six or seven primary schools, equating to 2,728 pupils, but independent school nurses typically provide a service in one school, covering an average of 663 pupils.

The single biggest factor preventing school nurses from developing their role is lack of time and heavy caseloads.

A third of nurses say that their role is not clearly defined, which is a particular issue among state school nurses. There is also a high level of unmet training needs, with 71 per cent saying they would like to undertake further training/education.

Fiona Smith, RCN adviser in children's nursing and young people's nursing, said: 'School nurses are facing increasing workloads and problems accessing training and support. The role of the school nurse is key to the health and wellbeing of children and, with the increasing prevalence of public health issues such as obesity, smoking and sexual health, school nurses are more important today than ever before. Yet in the past two decades the number of school nurses has been in steady decline in many parts of the UK.

'The RCN is calling for a doubling in the number of school nurses to meet government targets, and improved access to training opportunities to prevent further exacerbating shortages in the service.'

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