School Nursing Team Lead the Way

At a recent Board meeting, Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust (DIHC) were joined by the School Nursing team who told them about the impact of their service locally. Laura Bickley, Team Leader and Lisa Worth, Practice Nurse Educator, attended the meeting and explained that the team is responsible for looking after 45,000 children, aged between 5 years and 16 years across 104 schools in the borough.

Laura described how one of their roles is to help young people in school to understand the risks of sexual abuse. The team uses resources from the NSPCC, ‘Pantosaurus’.

Laura said, ‘By using arts and crafts, we can build relationships of trust with our young people where they feel comfortable to communicate with us.  We work at their pace and use the resources to help explain that their body belongs to them and what is appropriate.”

Lisa said, “Pantosaurus is a great way to start the conversation in a way that does not feel uncomfortable or threatening. Our role is to work with our student population and help educate them and provide support and guidance when needed. The schools and students really benefit from this.”

Philip King, Chief Operating Officer at DIHC, said, “The team provides a fantastic service to our school-age population and is essential in ensuring that children get the support they need when they need it.”