School Health Department and the Role of the School Nurse

The School Health Department consists of a team of public health nurses (PHN), health promoters, and a nutritionist.

The schools in our region from each of our four school boards (Greater Essex County District School Board, Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board, Conseil Scolaire Catholique Providence and Conseil Scolaire Viamonde) as well as private schools are assigned to our public health nurses.

All schools in Windsor-Essex County receive universal services.

Administrators and educators from all schools are encouraged to contact their School PHN for support with:

• Accessing high-quality, curriculum based, classroom resources.
• Ophea Healthy Schools Certification
• Reporting high rates of absenteeism.
• Finding information and/or resources on a number of public health topics.
  • Personal Safety and Injury Prevention
  • Healthy Eating
  • Human Development and Sexual Health
  • Infectious Disease Prevention
  • Mental Health
  • Oral Health
  • Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour
  • Substance Use
  • Violence and Bullying
  • Vision Health

Services that are provided to schools include:

• Inform and assist in developing health and well-being goals as identified on the School Improvement Plan (SIP) or School Annual Plan (SAP).
• Assist in defining a priority health topic to focus on for the school year and develop an Action Plan.
• Support high-quality, board approved programs, and health-related curriculum based classroom resources.
• Connect the school to organizations and resources in the community.
• Consult with Principals and educators on Ministries of Health and Education guidelines and policies and the Health and Physical Education Curriculum.
• Support coordination of other Public Health school-based services as needed.
• Be a contributing member to wellness groups and school wide initiatives.
• Provide support to all school groups (i.e. parent council, student council, wellness commitees).
• Provide information and/or resources on a variety of health topics through individual consultation or staff meetings.