Clinical Nursing
The Paediatric Clinical Nurse
A nurse from the local team of Children’s Community Nurses has been seconded to the two special schools for the equivalent of 5 days per week. Her time is divided 50:50 between the two schools.
This nurse is Jackie Pashley. She has been trained as a paediatric clinical nurse and has had much involvement with pupils at both schools through her prior work with the team.
It is important to distinguish between Jackie’s specialist role and the complementary roles of other medically qualified and trained staff.
As a specialist nurse, Jackie’s role is to provide nursing care to children as necessary. Nursing care covers such clinical activities as care of children during emergencies that can arise, changing dressings, flushing of portocaths, giving injections, taking blood samples, checking on state of gastrostomies, etc. and checking viability of essential equipment.
Jackie facilitates multi-agency interventions and assessments where there must be a nursing component and liaison with consultants, GPs and other medical personnel.
School staff are still expected to provide the routine and emergency care procedures that would be expected of a responsible parent. However, Jackie provides regular training so that school staff are best equipped for this role and in ensuring that healthcare plans are adequate and up to date. Staff are expected to follow exactly the prescriptions contained in health care plans and any directions given by Jackie.
She provides specialist advice about infection control measures that may help reduce incidence of illness among staff and pupils. She advises on what to do when children appear unwell at school. However, her role is distinct from that of a school nurse or health service staff working with children. School staff will still be expected to supervise children who are unwell until their parents can take them home.
Jackie can provide, or ensure that an appropriate person provides, guidance about epilepsy, asthma, anaphylaxis, and other common conditions and their management.
Jackie also provides training and guidance for parents and carers which may entail some home visiting. In a few exceptional cases, she may provide guidance and training for pupils in self-care.
The school has its own staff trained in First Aid. School staff should deal with pupils’ bumps, bruises, minor abrasions. Staff should seek support from the staff trained as First Aiders if injured themselves.
Jackie’s role is distinct from that of Angela Dickinson, the learning disability nurse with the Integrated Disability Service, who is the school’s first point of contact as regards issues relating to teaching continence, sleep disturbance and various behavioural difficulties.
Jackie will not be involved in the implementation of lice control. This remains a parental responsibility.
Paediatric Health Care Assistant
We have two health care assistants that work at the school, Sam Pearson and Patsy Catchpole. They support the work of the nurse. As a specialist healthcare assistant, Sam can provide nursing care to children as Jackie does and can advise on what to do when children appear unwell at school.
Jackie remains the lead for training school staff but Sam provides much useful support for Jackie and cover while she is doing training. Importantly, Sam is able to provide follow-up advice and practical support to school staff and parents since she knows the children well and is qualified to administer medicines and do clinical procedures, including things school staff may not do, e.g. relocating dislodged naso-gastric tubes, taking blood samples. Staff are expected to follow exactly any directions given by Sam, as they would if Jackie gave them.
About sixty children have written healthcare plans. Sam supports Jackie in this respect too. Although she may not write the health care plans herself, she does collate necessary information from various sources.
Jackie and Sam are based in the medical room when in school. Messages for them can be left with the school’s main office.
IF YOU REQUIRE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT JACKIE’S, SAM’S AND PATSY’S ROLES AND CONTRIBUITIONS TO BEST CARE PRACTICES AT THIS SCHOOL, DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK THEM.
A nurse from the local team of Children’s Community Nurses has been seconded to the two special schools for the equivalent of 5 days per week. Her time is divided 50:50 between the two schools.
This nurse is Jackie Pashley. She has been trained as a paediatric clinical nurse and has had much involvement with pupils at both schools through her prior work with the team.
It is important to distinguish between Jackie’s specialist role and the complementary roles of other medically qualified and trained staff.
As a specialist nurse, Jackie’s role is to provide nursing care to children as necessary. Nursing care covers such clinical activities as care of children during emergencies that can arise, changing dressings, flushing of portocaths, giving injections, taking blood samples, checking on state of gastrostomies, etc. and checking viability of essential equipment.
Jackie facilitates multi-agency interventions and assessments where there must be a nursing component and liaison with consultants, GPs and other medical personnel.
School staff are still expected to provide the routine and emergency care procedures that would be expected of a responsible parent. However, Jackie provides regular training so that school staff are best equipped for this role and in ensuring that healthcare plans are adequate and up to date. Staff are expected to follow exactly the prescriptions contained in health care plans and any directions given by Jackie.
She provides specialist advice about infection control measures that may help reduce incidence of illness among staff and pupils. She advises on what to do when children appear unwell at school. However, her role is distinct from that of a school nurse or health service staff working with children. School staff will still be expected to supervise children who are unwell until their parents can take them home.
Jackie can provide, or ensure that an appropriate person provides, guidance about epilepsy, asthma, anaphylaxis, and other common conditions and their management.
Jackie also provides training and guidance for parents and carers which may entail some home visiting. In a few exceptional cases, she may provide guidance and training for pupils in self-care.
The school has its own staff trained in First Aid. School staff should deal with pupils’ bumps, bruises, minor abrasions. Staff should seek support from the staff trained as First Aiders if injured themselves.
Jackie’s role is distinct from that of Angela Dickinson, the learning disability nurse with the Integrated Disability Service, who is the school’s first point of contact as regards issues relating to teaching continence, sleep disturbance and various behavioural difficulties.
Jackie will not be involved in the implementation of lice control. This remains a parental responsibility.
Paediatric Health Care Assistant
We have two health care assistants that work at the school, Sam Pearson and Patsy Catchpole. They support the work of the nurse. As a specialist healthcare assistant, Sam can provide nursing care to children as Jackie does and can advise on what to do when children appear unwell at school.
Jackie remains the lead for training school staff but Sam provides much useful support for Jackie and cover while she is doing training. Importantly, Sam is able to provide follow-up advice and practical support to school staff and parents since she knows the children well and is qualified to administer medicines and do clinical procedures, including things school staff may not do, e.g. relocating dislodged naso-gastric tubes, taking blood samples. Staff are expected to follow exactly any directions given by Sam, as they would if Jackie gave them.
About sixty children have written healthcare plans. Sam supports Jackie in this respect too. Although she may not write the health care plans herself, she does collate necessary information from various sources.
Jackie and Sam are based in the medical room when in school. Messages for them can be left with the school’s main office.
IF YOU REQUIRE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT JACKIE’S, SAM’S AND PATSY’S ROLES AND CONTRIBUITIONS TO BEST CARE PRACTICES AT THIS SCHOOL, DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK THEM.
