School nurses could be making a comeback in Alberta

For generations of Canadian children, scraping your knee at recess or getting a headache mid-math period meant a visit to the school nurse; a place where bandages, Tylenol, and a little TLC appeared to be in endless supply.

In recent years, however, elementary and high schools have replaced full-time nurses with off-site public health nurses, the majority of whom only pop by occasionally to provide general services like immunizations.

But as the Calgary Herald reports, Alberta may soon experience a school nurse renaissance, at least if Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk gets his way.

Lukaszuk told the Herald he is currently in talks with Health Minister Fred Horne to hammer out the details.

"Both of us are interested in trying this out and seeing how it will positively affect children's health," he told the paper. "The moment we have something we can implement as a pilot project, we will."

Along with regular duties, the province's school nurses would face a broader set of job criteria. Lukaszuk would like full-time health practitioners to also help teachers with sex ed, health and nutrition, and have the necessary background to spot signs of bullying and child abuse.

"It's very difficult sometimes to find the perpetrators, but you can definitely spot the victims if you understand behavioural patterns and you have a little bit of background in psychology and mental health. Nurses would definitely be helpful with that," he said, adding that students would also have a safe place to address sensitive or personal health concerns.

The Herald spoke to Leanne Shirtliffe, a teacher at Webber Academy, who said she's supportive of the proposition.

"I think any time you get more support personnel in the school, everybody wins," she said. "I think with things like sex education, children are often more comfortable with someone they know, but not necessarily someone they know as well as a teacher or a parent."

And though teachers are instructed in first aid, Shirtliffe said she'd feel more comfortable with a trained medical professional on site.

"We certainly get instruction every year on how to use an EpiPen and what to do in the case of a seizure, but ultimately, unless you're trained repeatedly in these things, it's hard to feel extremely confident. I think having somebody on-site who is trained certainly lessens your stress level as a teacher."

Because the details are still being finalized, Lukszuk was unable to provide more information on how much the project would cost or when it would begin, but he suggested he'd like it to start sooner than later.