Vad kännetecknar skolsköterskans hälsofrämjande arbete med nyanlända och asylsökande barn? : - En intervjustudie

Abstract Background. Sweden is one of the European countries that received the largest number of refugees in recent years and a large proportion of these are children. Asylum-seeking children are at greater risk of mental and physical illness. Since all children living in Sweden have the right to go to school, the school nurse has a unique role in the detection of illness and health promotion for this group of children. Objective. To describe what characterizes the school nurse's health promotion work with newly arrived and asylum-seeking children. Method. The study has a qualitative, inductive approach. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted in the Umeå region. The interviews were analysed using content analysis. Results. The result is presented in three categories. Under the category dedication descriptions of school nurses focus on the children's needs, personal involvement and meeting challenges is reported. Under development descriptions of how adaptation of procedures and their priority, of time is presented. Finally, under collaboration descriptions of cooperation and collaboration with family, school staff and external agencies is described. Conclusion. To develop procedures and forms of cooperation would simplify and streamline the work of school nurses and make more time for health promoting and preventative work with newly arrived and asylum-seeking children. A need for more knowledge about this student group was identified. Targeted training and education for school nurses could enhance the experience of professional skills in the work with newly arrived and asylum-seeking children. Keywords. School nurse, refugee children, mental health, student health, experience, health promotion