Role of the School Nurse as perceived by school children Parent in Jeddah.

Abstract

Descriptive research design was used to determine the school nurse role as perceived by the school children’ parents in Jeddah. A convenience sample was recruited for the study. The estimated number was 200 school children’parents living in Jeddah.The study was conducted at different public places in Jeddah. The study questionnaire included three parts. First, Socio-demographic data, second, a list of responsibilities of school nurse classified according to the school health program components and third, open-ended questions regarding the most important responsibility of the school nurse and the most important health education topic as perceived by the parents. The results of this study revealed that 82.5 % of the study subjects were mothers. The majority of schools don’t have the school nurse, and 6 % have a school nurse, and all the parents prefer hiring a school nurse for their children schools. Regarding the most important responsibility of the school nurse as perceived by the parents, screening was considered her first responsibility by nearly a quarter of parents, while 22 % of the parents agreed that prevention and control of communicable diseases was the first important health education topic. Recommendation: The Ministry of Education should recruit a nurse for each school with at least a higher nursing graduation and provide her with enough equipment and facilities.