| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺北護理健康大學 === 護理研究所 === 102 === Aim: This study sought to answer the following research questions: (1) What are the roles of school nurses in the Philippines? and (2) How do school nurses view their roles in the Philippine Health System?
Background: School nurses work in school settings to improve general health and health education services for school children. Several researches showed that the roles of school nurses have continually evolved and expanded since it was first practiced in England in 1900s. Meanwhile, the review and revision of the roles of school nurses are also encouraged because health needs and demands of school children are changing due to rapid “socioeconomic, political, cultural, epidemiological, and health system changes”.
Method: This study was an exploratory-descriptive qualitative research. Semi-structured in-depth interview was used to gather data about the roles of school nurses in primary and secondary schools in the three main islands of the Philippines. The data gathering was terminated when repetition of answers was apparent. The collected data were analyzed manually and interpreted using qualitative data content analysis.
Results: This study found out that school nurses in the Philippines performed their roles as a health educator, a direct care provider, a collaborator, an administrative staff, and a manager. Meanwhile, the school nurses had varied views on their roles in the Philippine Health System which included values children and family, helping attitude and self-giving, gratifying work outcome, vulnerable working conditions, restrictive work demands, and grappling over limited abilities, support, and resources.
Conclusion: It was also concluded that the scope of roles of the school nurses in the Philippines had expanded and changed overtime. However, the quality, depth and standards of the services rendered may have been underdeveloped. In spite of the limitations of the practice, school nurses still held positive feelings toward their work.
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