Nurse call for schools Push for first-class first aid
15th February 2010
uthor: John Masanauskas, education reporter
Publisher: News Ltd
Publication: Herald Sun, Page 6 (Wed 10 Feb 2010)
Keywords: Martin (1),Dixon (1)
Edition: 1 - FIRST
Section: NEWSNurse call for schools Push for first-class first aid
EVERY primary school should have a nurse to deal with growing health issues such as allergies and childhood obesity, says a principals' group.
The Victorian Principals Association wants the Brumby Government to allocate money for the nurses in the coming state Budget.
VPA president Gabrielle Leigh said yesterday that most of the state's 1180 primary schools couldn't afford to hire nurses and often relied on receptionists with first-aid certificates to care for students.
``We should be able to provide kids with top medical assistance and that doesn't happen,'' she said.
Ms Leigh said nurses would be able to provide fitness and and healthy nutrition programs for students.
``Basically, they could encourage them to have a good lifestyle, try to move away from the frightening statistics of increasing obesity among younger students,'' she said.
Ms Leigh said there was also growing concern in schools about litigation involving accidents. ``Students should have high-level treatment. People are less confident in dealing with accidents now,'' she said.
Parents Victoria spokeswoman Sharron Healy said nurses would be very welcome in schools provided there were no budget cuts in other areas.
``Allergies are definitely on the increase and I'm sure that nurses could put some good practices into place and give some good advice,'' she said.
Liberal education spokesman Martin Dixon said that rather than creating a new bureaucracy of school nurses, schools should consider working with other Government departments to provide the service. ``Perhaps we should be looking at a better way of doing it,'' he said.
An Education Department spokeswoman said that 78 nurses were provided under the $7 million Primary School Nursing Program. These nurses screen every prep student in the state every year to identify any health and wellbeing issues early and to refer students for health checks where necessary.
``Every school with primary students -- government, Catholic or independent -- can request further visits from a PSNP nurse at any time during the school year if a staff member or parent is concerned about a student's health,'' the spokeswoman said.
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