Headline: Healthy kids ready to learn
Our policy takes the health care to where it is most needed and where it is most easily accessed – low decile schools.
The Green Party has announced a plan to put nurses into every low decile primary and intermediate school in New Zealand.
Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei announced the plan at the party’s AGM in Christchurch today. The policy is part of the Green Party’s strategy for both eliminating child poverty and dealing with the symptoms of poverty that too many Kiwi children face every day.
The $30 million a year proposal is for dedicated public health nurses to work in every decile one to three primary and intermediate school in New Zealand, opening up access for around 112,000 kiwi kids to basic health care services at their school.
“We know that poverty, ill health and educational underachievement go hand in hand,” said Mrs Turei.
“Kids in the lowest decile schools are the least likely to get the medical attention that they need to stay well and do their best at school.
“Children in the most deprived neighbourhoods are three times as likely to be admitted to hospital for preventable illnesses than children from the least deprived neighbourhoods.
“Our policy takes the health care to where it is most needed and where it is most easily accessed – low decile schools.
“This proposal on its own does not solve child poverty, but helps to mitigate one of its symptoms and gives kids a better opportunity to escape intergenerational poverty through education.
“School nurses are a practical solution that will ensure children and families who need basic medical care can get it. They are not a replacement for doctors, but a first port of call and a gateway to further health care.
“Education was my route out of poverty and it can be for others. But too often children are too sick, or too hungry to learn.
“Nurses in schools can help with sore throats, skin infections, and asthma before these turn into huge problems for the child – problems that can seriously impact on their education and their chance at a good life.
“A nurse in every school was a key recommendation of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation in its submission to the Government’s Green Paper on Vulnerable Children and is a sensible step to improving education outcomes for our most vulnerable children.
“Nurses already do a fantastic job in low decile secondary schools and some primary schools. But schools shouldn’t have to dip into their operations grants to fund this service.
“Our proposal is for a formal national framework for school nursing where every child from a lower decile school can be guaranteed a basic level of care from a nurse that is not funded out from schools operations budget.
“We propose engaging the profession to establish a scope of practice and model of care specific to primary school nursing, said Metiria Turei.
—
while i support the idea of a frontline health service in poor schools..
..i wonder if a nurse fulltime in every school is the answer..
..wouldn’t it be more cost-effective to have state-of-the art mobile health centres..?
..(they could be re-fitted mobile-homes/caravans..)
..that could travel from school to school…?
..a couple of nurses in each one..
..they could do at least five schools a week/be on call/used as needed (decided by principals..?..)
..with teachers as another frontline..able to refer children to be seen..
..surely that would be cheaper/more efficient..?
..than setting up surgeries in every school..?
..there is your wages-bill cut by 3/5ths..
..and yr set-up costs slashed..
..phillip ure..
Yeah that’s really great lets put a nurse into low decile schools instead of feeding the children so the nurse can identify that the child is malnourished and unhealthy – WTF
The fact the the Nurses Organisation supports this idea is not a great premise for its initiation – nurses would like more jobs for nurses umm isn’t that obvious
Comments are closed.