Roles and responsibilities

Wellbeing nurse

The wellbeing nurse role is a Clinical Nurse Specialist Grade 2 (CNS2) role with required qualifications and experience as specified in the Public Health System Nurses' and Midwives' (State) Award. A Registered Nurse (RN) with experience and skills relevant to the role who commits to completing required CNS2 qualifications within two years of their employment can be employed as a wellbeing nurse.

The wellbeing nurse has high-level specialist skills associated with child and family health, youth health and/or psychosocial support and provides a leadership role in providing health care coordination and navigation. A wellbeing nurse works across public primary and high schools and health and community settings, establishes relationships with key service providers, accesses health resources and medical record systems, supports students and families to access services, and participates in case conferences to coordinate their care.

The wellbeing nurse will:

• identify health and social needs of students and families
• coordinate access to appropriate early and therapeutic intervention, assessments and referral of students and families to services and programs, including support to attend health appointments where appropriate
• contribute to care coordination and case management of students and families
• build trusting relationships with students and families to identify and assess their health and social needs and address barriers to accessing services
• support access to health promotion to improve health literacy and engagement of students and families
• develop networks with health providers to build strong relationships and effective referral pathways
• work with families, the school principals, school learning and support and wellbeing teams, the local school counselling service, NSW Department of Education Delivery Support teams, school staff and local health and community services, as appropriate, to assist students and their families access the health and wellbeing services and supports they need
• attend local governance committee meetings with the wellbeing nurse manager, the principals and the Directors of Educational Learning or delegate and report on their service activity and issues and concerns affecting delivery of the service.

Activities out of scope

Activities out of scope are:

• delivering lessons on health and wellbeing
• undertaking individual or group mental health interventions with students and providing counselling to students
• providing population screening for health and development
• providing any direct therapeutic intervention for students who require health care procedures while at school, cluding tube feeding, tracheotomy suctioning, diabetes management and first aid.
• providing personal care procedures such as toileting.

Wellbeing nurse training

NSW Health mandatory training

• My Health Learning modules Child Wellbeing and Child Protection Parts 1 and 2
• Mandatory training determined by local health districts

NSW Department of Education mandatory training

Mandatory training for school based staff as listed on NSW Department of Education.

NSW Health training relevant to the role

• My Health Learning Child Protection targeted training
• My Health Learning modules: Child Wellbeing and Child Protection Part 3
• My Health Learning module: Sharing Information to Support and Protect Vulnerable Children and Young People
• NSW Health Education Centre Against Violence (ECAV) course DV-607 Domestic Violence and Child Protection – developing good practice responses
• ECAV course AB - 44 Developing culturally safe trauma informed practice in Aboriginal communities
• My Health Learning module HEEADSSS Assessment – Get the conversation started
• My Health Learning modules HEEADSSS assessment – working effectively with young people
• Essential Youth HealthCare Skills
• My Health Learning modules CAMHS and Youth Mental Health
• My Health Learning module NSW Health Gatekeeper Training for suicide prevention.

Induction for new wellbeing nurses

• NSW Ministry of Health and NSW Department of Education Wellbeing and Health In-reach Nurse Coordinator Program Induction session
• School site inductions at each participating school prior to delivering the service.

WHIN Coordinator Program Service Delivery Model

The wellbeing nurse will implement the WHIN Coordinator program Service Delivery Model. Key features of this model are to:

• operate in accordance with legal responsibilities, NSW Health policies and procedures
• abide by agreed local working protocols and partnership arrangements with schools and other services
• work with the school learning and support and wellbeing team and attend (either in person or remotely) team meetings and other meetings that are deemed appropriate
• develop relationships and referral pathways with relevant internal and external health and social service services
• abide by local health district policies and protocols when conducting a home visit as part of a wider engagement strategy
• if required in exceptional circumstances to transport students to medical appointments, follow risk management processes and consult the wellbeing nurse’s line manager and the school principal.

In responding to a child protection matter the wellbeing nurse will:

• comply with NSW Health child protection policies:
• Child Wellbeing and Child Protection Policies and Procedures for NSW Health (PD2013_007)
• Responding to Sexual Assault (adult and child) Policy and Procedures (PD 2020_006)
• Integrated Prevention and Response to Violence, Abuse and Neglect Framework (PD2019_041)
• inform the school principal when a student is reported to the Child Protection Helpline or NSW Health Child Wellbeing Unit (CWU) for suspected Risk of Significant Harm (ROSH) and provide the report reference number
• be aware of NSW Department of Education policies relating to child protection and wellbeing.

Reporting requirements

The wellbeing nurse will:

• inform the school principal/s and the wellbeing nurse’s line manager of any operational issues that may impact the delivery of the wellbeing nurse service such as changes to their days at the school, sick or annual leave
• in accordance with school processes, communicate to relevant school staff the wellbeing nurse’s whereabouts when not at school on appointed days (for example, via an electronic calendar that can be accessed by the wellbeing nurse and relevant school staff), and if their return is delayed for any reason
• use the NSW Health patient administration system to record and maintain activity data
• use the school’s record keeping system to provide information to the school principal, school learning and support and wellbeing team and school staff when a student is accessing the wellbeing nurse, including:
• student name
• dates of consultations with student
• date student is discharged from the service
• complete mandatory reporting for children and young people at suspected ROSH
• provide de-identified service level progress reports for the wellbeing nurse’s line manager, school principal and program local governance committee, when requested
• report work safety incidents to the wellbeing nurse’s line manager and school principal
• report the occurrence of adverse events or incidents that results in, or has the potential for injury, damage or loss including near misses in local health districts incident management system in accordance with the NSW Health Incident Management Policy (PD2020-047) and the NSW Health Policy Work Health and Safety: Better Practice Procedures (PD2018_013)
• inform the school principal of adverse events or incidents to enable the school to comply with their own incident management procedures.

NSW Health local health district

The local health district is responsible for:

• employment of the wellbeing nurse
• management and support of the wellbeing nurse, including performance management, rostering, payroll, leave management, and disciplinary/grievance functions
• providing clinical supervision for the wellbeing nurse
• approving the wellbeing nurse’s activities during school holidays, including where the nurse works and who provides day-to-day support
• ensuring wellbeing nurses deliver services according to the Wellbeing and Health In-reach Nurse Coordinator Program Service Delivery Model
• monitoring the implementation of the Wellbeing and Health In-reach Nurse Coordinator Program Service Delivery Model in collaboration with the school principal
• consulting with the school principal about the performance of the wellbeing nurse and services provided by the wellbeing nurse at their school
• communicating with school principals about any operational issues impacting on the delivery of program
• ensuring the wellbeing nurse completes all NSW Health mandatory training
• supporting the wellbeing nurse to access training to enhance their skills and knowledge relevant to their role
• ensuring wellbeing nurses understand and comply with NSW Health child protection policies and procedures

The wellbeing nurse is a mandatory reporter and has a legal responsibility to report suspected child abuse and neglect to the relevant government authorities in accordance with Child Wellbeing and Child Protection Policies and Procedures for NSW Health (PD2013_007).

• following up on relevant incidents occurring on the school sites reported by the wellbeing nurse in the local health district incident management system in accordance with NSW Health Incident Management Policy (PD2020_047) and NSW Health Policy Work Health and Safety: Better Practice Procedures (PD2018_013)
• ensuring the wellbeing nurse is up to date with documenting the service events in a child or young person’s electronic medical record (eMR) in line with local health district processes

The Ministry of Health extracts non identifiable aggregated data on service events from the NSW Health Enterprise Data Warehouse for Analysis Reporting and Decisions (EDWARD) to generate quarterly reports.

• working with Directors of Educational Leadership or delegate to establish and coordinate the local WHIN Coordinator Program Governance committee
• ensuring an appropriate NSW Department of Education delegate is represented on the recruitment panels for the wellbeing nurses, in consultation with the Director of Educational Leadership
• registering the WHIN Coordinator service location in HERO according to NSW Health IB2017_044 HERO: NSW Health service location registration requirements
• providing reports on request to the NSW Ministry of Health and Department of Education representative on WHIN Coordinator program achievements and ‘good news’ stories.

School principal

The school principal is responsible for:

• providing a furnished room or space at their school site that, if shared by other staff, can be booked by the wellbeing nurse to deliver their services to students and their families in privacy. The room should be clearly signed indicating the availability of the wellbeing nurse
• ensuring the wellbeing nurse has access to printers, photocopiers, scanners and stationery supplies that assist them in their day-to-day role
• ensuring the wellbeing nurse is given relevant school policies, procedures and guidelines
• ensuring the wellbeing nurse receives a general local induction to the school site, including information about available facilities, contact details, first aid arrangements, emergency responses (evacuation, lockdown, lockout), reporting injuries, illnesses or safety hazards in the workplace
• supporting the wellbeing nurse to build strong professional relationships with the members of the school’s learning and support and wellbeing team
• supporting the wellbeing nurse to integrate with the school’s learning and support and wellbeing team, including clarifying roles and responsibilities and referral pathways
• providing day-to-day support while the wellbeing nurse is working in the school
• supporting the setup of processes to enable the wellbeing nurse to communicate their whereabouts when travelling outside of the school (for example, via an electronic calendar that can be accessed by the wellbeing nurse and relevant school staff), and if their return is delayed for any reason
• providing information to the wellbeing nurse’s line manager regarding the wellbeing nurse’s performance and any issues impacting the delivery of the WHIN Coordinator program at their school
• using the communication tools created by the NSW Department of Education to communicate information about the WHIN Coordinator program to the school’s students, their families, school staff and school stakeholders
• promoting the wellbeing nurse role to the school staff and school community, including referral pathways to the wellbeing nurse within the school
• informing students and parents/carers that the wellbeing nurse is employed by NSW Health and operates within the consent and confidentiality requirements of NSW Health.

School principal in the base school

The school principal in the base school is responsible for ensuring the wellbeing nurse is:

• is provided with a dedicated work space with a desk and chair
• is provided with the NSW Department of Education’s Code of Conduct, Controversial Issues in Schools Policy and Procedures and Allegations Against Employees Policies and Procedures, security and safety, policies, procedures and guidelines
• receives relevant mandatory NSW Department of Education training.

Local health district and school principal

The local health district and school principal are responsible for supporting the wellbeing nurse to commence in a new school. Prior to commencement of the role in the school setting, the local health district and school principal discuss and agree on the arrangements for the wellbeing nurse to work in the chosen school. These include:

• the days and hours the wellbeing nurse is expected to be on school site, taking into consideration:
• the wellbeing nurse’s contracted hours, leave allowance and flexible work arrangements with the local health district, including flexible work hours and working remotely
• travel time between school sites
• required attendance at health appointments with students and families
• required visits to local health district services, health and community services to access health resources, information and medical records
• redeployment to other areas of health, for example to support the COVID response, flood and bushfire response, or other health emergencies
• a furnished space at the school for the wellbeing nurse to perform the service and any specific considerations that may apply (for example times of access to the space and privacy)
• remote working arrangements for times the wellbeing nurse is unable to be on the school site, for example linking via phone or video into meetings with students, families and school staff
• access to the school internet and basic office equipment such as printer, scanner and stationery
• access the school data system for retrieving and recording relevant student information, as appropriate
• access to a school computer to install ‘remote access’ to the local health district system, if required.

The local health district provides the wellbeing nurse with a laptop, mobile phone and access to a local health district fleet vehicle. Fleet vehicles may occasionally be unavailable to a wellbeing nurse to travel to schools when there is an unscheduled emergency clinical need in the local health district. When this occurs, the wellbeing nurse can continue to deliver the service to students and families through virtual care (email, phone or video communication) and virtually attend key meetings at the school.

NSW Department of Education Director of Educational Leadership

The Director of Educational Leadership who provides management support to school principals of participating schools is responsible for:

• informing school principals about their allocation of a wellbeing nurse
• ensuring school principals receive a copy of the WHIN Coordinator Program Operational Guidelines prior to wellbeing nurses starting in the school
• identifying an appropriate NSW Department of Education delegate to be represented on the wellbeing nurse interview panel, in consultation with the local health district
• introducing the wellbeing nurse to school principals
• working with the local health district and school principals to help resolve issues regarding the implementation of the program
• working with the local health district to establish and coordinate the WHIN Coordinator Program Governance committee
• escalating issues to the NSW Department of Education that cannot be resolved by the WHIN Coordinator Program Governance committee.