Asthma advice for school nurses

How school nurses can support asthma care in schools

This section will help you to understand how school nurses can assist schools to provide the right support for children with asthma. 

This is not a substitute for completing an appropriate training module.  For advice and support on choosing the right course for you, please see our training and development page.

Background

Every school in the UK, from preschool through to sixth form colleges, has a legal duty to make arrangements for supporting children with medical conditions at school.  This includes asthma.  There are guidelines in all 4 UK nations to support schools to do so.
These guidance documents provide comprehensive information on: the roles and responsibilities of school staff, the development and implementation of a medical conditions policy, how staff should be trained and supported, how to write healthcare plans, and the management of medicines in school.

They also cover record-keeping, emergency procedures, managing off-site activities, identifying unacceptable practices, handling complaints, and issues related to liability and indemnity.

How can school nurses help schools to become asthma safe?

Georgie Herskovitz explains how school nurses can support schools to manage asthma better in this Primary Care Respiratory Society blog.

1.    Encourage schools to identify designated asthma leads and champions

A named lead or champion with clear roles and responsibilities will help the school to care for children with asthma safely. Schools may decide on more than one person to be an asthma lead. Occasionally asthma teams may work with schools too.

2.    Share the statutory guidance for schools 

England

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

3.    Support schools to hold an emergency asthma inhaler 

Since October 2014 UK schools have been able to purchase a salbutamol inhaler without a prescription for use in emergencies when a child with asthma has not got their own inhaler in school. 
This is not intended to replace the child’s own inhaler and spacer, which should be provided by the parent/carer in the original labelled pharmacy box along with a copy of their asthma action plan
Note that children who use a breath actuated inhaler will not have a spacer. The Emergency Inhalers for use in Schools Guidance will give schools that choose to keep an emergency inhaler the basis to create a policy.  Additional information is available in the London Healthy Schools Guide.

4.    Signpost to training, information and support

The Health Conditions at School Alliance is made of over 30 organisations with a shared interest in making sure children with health conditions get the care they need in school. The website offers guidance and tools to help schools to provide the right support for children with medical conditions, including asthma.
NHS England and Improvement have been working with key stakeholders, including young people and their families, to develop a National Bundle of Care for Children and Young People with asthma to support local systems with the management of asthma care. The National Bundle of Care includes a tiered capability framework to help both health and non-healthcare professionals identify the skills they need to care for a child or young person with asthma.