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Liz Clark is a school nurse with Lambeth Primary Care Trust in south London

Q: What is the aim of your job?
A: To promote healthy lifestyles, help prevent ill-health and address the health needs of school-aged children and young people so that health problems don't get in the way of them achieving their potential.  

Q: What is an average day like?
A: An average day might begin by talking about immunisations to a group of young people in a school assembly, then doing health assessments with a group of five-year-olds in a primary school to check their hearing, vision and growth. Lunchtime could incorporate a drop-in session with teenagers at a secondary school, including giving out information and offering complementary therapies to help tackle stress in the run up to exams. My afternoon at the clinic will involve replying to messages, following up notifications received for children who have recently attended an A&E department, writing up records for children seen during the day, and forward planning. The day might end with a teaching session for school staff about hygiene precautions or the management of allergic reactions in the school

 
Q: Who are the main sorts of people you come into contact with?
A: One of the really interesting aspects of this job is the variety of people we meet and work with, including children, young people, their families, and a whole host of education, police, social work and health staff working in the community.

Q: What is the best part of your job?
A: Helping to set up innovative projects, such as the extended school programme which involves incorporating learning about health in new ways within an education setting.

Q: What is the worst part?
A: Dealing with challenging child protection issues and not being able to change things as soon as I'd like.

Q: Do you need any specific qualifications?
A: To be a school nurse you need to be a qualified nurse and have experience of working with children, preferably in the community. We also have support staff working within our teams, who can train to help with health promotion and health screening alongside clerical work.

Q: What personal qualities do you need?
A: Lots of energy and enthusiasm as the job can get very busy. Also, a positive outlook, plenty of patience, and a sense of humour is very useful!

Q: How much do you earn?
A: It depends where in the country you work and whether you work term-time only or all year round, but the average school nurse earns between œ17,000 and œ25,000.

Q: What advice would you give to someone thinking of becoming a school nurse?
A: Anyone interested should phone or go to a community health centre and ask to speak to a school nurse - we've recruited to our team as a result of initial enquiries like this.