Nurses and doctors at the health care centres carry out school health care at neighbourhood health care centres.
The main emphases of school health care are:
The goal of school health care is to promote the health of students and support their well-being.
School nurses work in close collaboration with parents/guardians, school officials, teachers and others who deal with student affairs with the welfare of students in mind.
School health care provides organised health education for all age groups and encourages healthy lifestyles. It is based on the ideology of 6-H health.
Emphasis is placed on:
After each educational session, parents receive an email with the content of the session. This gives parents the opportunity to talk to their children about what they have learned and how they can use the lessons in their daily lives.
Vaccinations are intended to protect the individual against serious infectious diseases and reduce the risk of infection in the community.
Diseases that the Directorate of Health recommends that all children in Iceland be vaccinated against can cause serious illness and even death.
The following vaccinations are carried out in school health care and are in accordance with the recommendations of the Directorate of Health.
7th grade:
9th grade:
Before the vaccination, an e-mail is sent to the parents about the appointment. It is important that children bring their vaccination records to school when vaccination is scheduled to take place.
If it is likely that the child will not be fully vaccinated, parents are encouraged to contact the school nurse. Children’s vaccinations are always the responsibility of the parents.
If parents opt not to vaccinate their children, they must notify the school health care services in writing and this should be recorded in the child’s health record.
Children’s growth
Monitoring children’s growth provides important information about health and nutritional status. A growth chart is one of the best measures available to monitor the overall health and well-being of children. It is important to measure height and weight at regular intervals in order to be able to assess deviations in the growth chart.
As growth and physique are often sensitive topics for children and teens, it is important that follow-up is carried out in consultation with parents and conducted in a prudent manner.
Children’s growth is measured in 1st, 4th, 7th and 9th grades.
Vision
Children’s vision health is an important part of health care. Vision problems are quite common among children and teens, and tend to increase with age. Failure to take appropriate action will affect the student’s well-being and ability to learn.
A vision test at school measures visual acuity (myopia) on each eye individually by determining what size letters the child can read from a certain distance. The vision test uses a HVOT table which consists of 4 letters, H-V-O-T. If children do not recognise the letters, they can point to cards which display identical letters.
Vision tests take place in 1st, 4th, 7th and 9th grades.
Consultations about health and well-being
When screening takes place in 1st, 4th, 7th and 9th grades, the nurse talks to students about health and well-being. The aim of these consultations is to strengthen students’ awareness of their own lifestyle and well-being. Likewise being able to take action if they feel worried or unwell. Basic information from a consultation about health and well-being is registered in the health care centre’s electronic medical record.
In the event of an accident or injury during school hours, the school staff will provide first aid.
If a student needs to go to a health care centre or accident ward, parents/guardians go along with the child.
Children with chronic illness
It is important for the school nurse to know about children who have a chronic and/or serious illness, such as diabetes, allergies, epilepsy and bleeding disorders.
These children are cared for by the school health care in consultation with the child’s parents/guardians.
The care may include:
These are the schools in which the health care centres of the capital area supervise the health care of school children.
Here you can see which health centre each school belongs to and the e-mail addresses of the school nurses.
You can get in phone contact with the school nurses through the schools’ switchboards.
Heilsugæslan Árbæ
Heilsugæslan Efra Breiðholti
Heilsugæslan Efstaleiti
Heilsugæslan Fjörður
Heilsugæslan Garðabæ
Heilsugæslan Glæsibæ
Heilsugæslan Grafarvogi
Heilsugæslan Hamraborg
Heilsugæslan Hlíðum
Heilsugæslan Hvammi
Heilsugæslan Miðbæ
Heilsugæslan Mjódd
Heilsugæslan Mosfellsumdæmi
Heilsugæslan Seltjarnarnesi
Heilsugæslan Sólvangi
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