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Wellbeing

School nurse

School nurses work with schools and families to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

Annual Salary

£35,000 to £43,000

Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

38 to 40 variable

You could work: between 8am and 6pm;

3.8%
Future employment

There will be 3.8% more School nurse jobs in 2027.

Day to day tasks

In this role you could:

  • raise awareness of health issues like smoking and drugs
  • promote healthy living, including sex and health education
  • give immunisations, vaccinations and carry out screenings
  • train teachers on healthcare issues and advise on school health policy
  • support children with medical needs like asthma, diabetes, epilepsy or mental health issues

Working environment

You could work at a school, at a pupil referral unit, in the community or at a college.

You can get into this job through an apprenticeship or by working towards this role.

Apprenticeship

If you're a qualified registered nurse or midwife, you might be able to do a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse Level 7 Degree Apprenticeship.

This usually takes a year and 6 months to complete and is a mix of learning at work and study at an accredited university.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • to be a registered nurse
For more information
  • search for apprenticeships on NHS Jobs|https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate
Work

You can apply to become a school nurse if you're a registered nurse or midwife.

You'll usually need to do an approved programme in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing - School Nursing.

This approved programme can take 1 to 2 years to complete.

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

More information

Career tips

You might have an advantage when applying for courses or jobs if you have:experience in health promotion or working with children in the community; knowledge of child protection and family planning issues; an understanding of school children's health needs

Further information

You can find out more about how to become a school nurse from Health Careers.

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With experience you could:become a team manager or community matron; become a manager of a service; work in education or research

You'll find more details about becoming a school nurse from Health Careers.

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

You'll need:

  • knowledge of medicine and dentistry
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
  • sensitivity and understanding
  • a desire to help people
  • the ability to work well with others
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
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