The president of SATSE, Laura Villaseñor, at the inauguration of the day on mental health in educational centers
Teachers, health professionals, families and students agree on the need to convert educational centers into ‘health-promoting’ environments where mental problems can be prevented, detected and treated.
For this, it is essential to have school nurses in all schools and institutes.
This is how the conference “School nurse. Taking care of mental health in the classrooms”, organized by the Nursing Union, SATSE, and the independent public education union ANPE, in collaboration with AMECE.
A meeting in which data from a recent study that has analyzed this problem that worries the entire educational community was also offered.
Get out of silence
At the opening of the day, the president of SATSE, Laura Villaseñor, highlighted that lEducational centers constitute a fundamental area of action in which a nurse can carry out prevention, detection and monitoring tasks.
We must remove those who suffer from psychological discomfort from the margins, come out of silence and break the stigmas always associated with any mental health problem.
Villaseñor regretted that the number of school nurses is still “very scarce,” and defended the need for there to be a consensus model between Health and Education that facilitates the gradual and orderly presence of the school nurse.
“Need political measures that alleviate suffering and that allow mental well-being to be promoted in educational centers from which to learn, grow, think and act,” emphasized the president of SATSE.
Safety spaces
For his part, the president of ANPE, Francisco Venzalá, stressed that, as all the studies reflect, “student problems related to mental health “They are not being cared for as they should be.”
In his opinion, “It is essential to create a space of safety in the centers so that students who face situations of this type have a trusted figure with whom to address them, since teachers are not trained to deal with such delicate problems, such as depression or self-harming behavior.
For this reason, the president of ANPE pointed out that “the school nurse is the figure that is needed” and urged public administrations to decisively commit to its implementation and extension.
One center, one nurse
In similar terms, the president of the National and International Association of School Nursing (AMECE), Natividad López, defended the implementation of, at least, a nurse in each educational center throughout the school day.
As in other countries, It must be a reality, provided with a legal framework and adequately recognized, professionally and professionally.
“Everything else, ‘remote nursing’ in health centers, is neither effective nor efficient, does not solve or prevent students’ health problems“, nor can it optimally promote the health of the entire educational community,” said the president of AMECE.
10 years, 600 hours
The opinions of those responsible for educational centers, school nurses and students were also echoed in the day. Elena Rico, a Psychology student at the University of Saint Andrews (Scotland), offered her personal experience and detailed the great importance that having a school nurse had in his life.
I am a person with very serious mental health problems who owes my life to a school nurse
Rico explained that his school nurse, María Mínguez, treated him for 10 years and 600 hours and he was the person who realized his problems.
“In a society where mental health problems are on the rise, our children have the right to have the figure of the school nurse. Almost tragedies are also tragedies for many and I do not understand that there are no budgets to have school nurses,” she said.
Joint work
María Mínguez also participated in the event and offered her experience at the Runnymede College in Alcobendas where she works. He highlighted that Mental health problems are multifactorial and complexand, therefore, the support of a multidisciplinary team and a good network of social services and mental health is essential.
In this regard, he emphasized that the school nurse can play a liaison role between students, the educational community and health and social services, and affirmed that You have to be a permanent and stable professionalso that the students know that “he is always there” and trust him.
Increase in cases
The main results of the study “Diagnosis of mental health in classrooms” offered at the conference by the vice president of ANPE, Sonia García, are that eight out of every ten school nurses declare that they have a student with a diagnosis related to mental health.
According to this study, prepared based on a survey carried out among teachers, mothers and fathers and school nurses throughout the State, the main pathologies are Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), anxiety and self-harm attempts and/or self-harm.
Faced with this situation, 95 percent of teachers consider it necessary for a health professional – such as a nurse or school nurse – treat health regularly and comprehensively (physical and mental) in the educational center itself.
Also nine out of ten parents surveyed believe it is necessary to receive some type of care at the educational center and the same percentage assures that the existing needs would be better served by a school nurse.