The Nursing Union, SATSE, has again denounced the new "fiasco" of the ministries of Health and Education for starting another school year without addressing the widespread demand from families, students, and teachers for at least one school nurse in each educational center. The organization rejects the "itinerant formula" whereby a nurse assigned to a health center visits different schools and institutes only at specific times, "a 'patch' that does not guarantee the continuity of care or an effective planning of their work."
The union organization laments that the joint request from the entire educational community (families, students, teachers, and other staff of the centers) ends, year after year, "in a dead letter" due to the "lack of interest" from the competent administrations (ministries of Health and Education) in allocating the necessary resources to strengthen the health of children and young people in schools and institutes.
SATSE emphasizes that the autonomous communities dedicate an average of more than 8,000 million euros each year to Education and Health, so it considers that there is a "more than sufficient" budget to hire these health professionals. It adds that these nurses would integrate into the Primary Care team, with a stable presence in the educational center and acting as a link with this level of care. "It is not a wasted or external resource, but rather part of the health system and strengthens it," it adds.
The Union stresses that the presence of a school nurse is increasingly "undeniable" in light of various studies, reports, and surveys that warn of the increase in various health problems among the child and youth population, with special emphasis on those related to mental health.
Furthermore, SATSE criticizes that the Ministry of Education has left school nurses out of its new guide to prevent and combat bullying in schools and institutes and that the key role of these health professionals in the design and implementation of the "Health Promoting Schools" network is not recognized, an initiative that aims to consolidate healthy school environments in all autonomous communities.