The Youth Health Nurse at Woree State High School is a registered nurse who works within community health and is placed in school five days per fortnight to work with students, school staff and parents to promote health and well-being.
Part of the nurse's role is to support the health of the school environment through the Health Promoting School’s initiative. The nurse can also connect people to other support services inside and outside the school.
The Youth Health Nurse can see people in private to talk about:
health concerns
relationships
personal and family problems
smoking, alcohol or drug use
sexual health
healthy skin
feeling unhappy or stressed
puberty, growing up
healthy eating
getting in touch with the right service
anything that effects health and well being
Confidentiality
The Youth Health Nurse works in the school but is employed by Queensland Health. The nurse is required to keep information confidential (not talking about it to others) unless the young person agrees the nurse can do otherwise. However, if the young person the nurse is seeing is at risk of being hurt or hurting someone else, the nurse may need to discuss this information with another agency. If the nurse thinks it's best to talk to someone else about the problem, they will usually explain the reasons why and talk to the student about this.
In most cases, it is best for the young person to talk to their parents about any problems or concerns they may have, and the Youth Health Nurse can help them to do this.
Getting the best help for health needs
The Youth Health Nurse is available to talk to anyone about any concerns or problems they may have.
Some problems may be better dealt with by other professionals in the school or community. If the young person agrees, the nurse can work with other support staff in the school, or health professions in the community to help with their problems.
At times it may be best for the young person to see another professional for further assistance, e.g.:
As a general rule the Youth Health Nurse does not provide:
Treatments e.g. medications, injections, first-aid
Physical examinations
Counselling for psychological or educational problems.
Working with students, staff and parents for healthier, more supportive schools
Apart from seeing people on an individual basis, the Youth Health Nurse works with the school community to identify and act on issues that may affect the health of students and the school community as a whole. This includes helping with curriculum, teaching and learning activities, supporting the development of an environment and school culture that supports health and wellbeing, and working with the community and other services.
Youth Health Nurse
Fab Poupinel De Valence fpoup0@eq.edu.au (07) 4081 5264