Perspectives of School Health Nurses on their Role in the School Environment of Ijebu Ode Local Government Area of Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: School health nurses’ role in a school environment is underscored by the national school health policy in Nigeria. Understanding their role in promoting adolescents’ health especially in their reproductive health would enable them to perform their role as expected of them. The existing literature shows that school health nurses are deficient in their role expectations. It is not clear whether they are aware of their role, and whether they were prepared for the role they perform. This gap served as a motivation for the researcher to explore and describe the role of school health nurses in Ijebu Ode local government of Nigeria. Methods: A qualitative approach with an explorative and descriptive design was used. School health nurses who have spent more than two years in the school health service were purposively selected. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight school health nurses and one school health coordinator. Inductive content analysis was done to interpret the data. Findings: The findings revealed that school health nurses were not aware of their role in school health service, and all of them were posted to school environment immediately after their employment to work as school health nurses without any form of programme that would prepare them for the new challenge as most of them had acute care background. Conclusion and Recommendations: Against the backdrop of the findings, school health nurses should be properly oriented toward their expectations in the school health setting. They should be provided with the adequate training in order to function at the optimal level.