Karin Klein - School Health Nurse. Location: ground floor school administration building. She can be contacted on 40515788 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, by mobile: 0414323267 or by email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Youth Health Nurse at Trinity Bay High is a registered nurse employed by Queensland Health and working within Community Health.

Role Description

The School Health Nurse role is:

• to work with students, school staff and parents to promote health and well being,
• to support the health of the school environment through the Health Promoting Schools initiative,
• connect people to other support services inside and outside the school.

The Youth Health Nurse can see people in private to talk about:

• health concerns
• relationships
• personal and family problems
• smoking, alcohol or drug use
• sexual health
• healthy skin
• feeling unhappy or stressed
• puberty, growing up
• healthy eating
• getting in touch with the right serviceanything that effects health and well being

Confidentiality
The nurse is required to keep information confidential (not talking about it to others) unless the young person agrees the nurse can do otherwise. However, if the young person the nurse is seeing is at risk of being hurt or hurting someone else, the nurse may need to discuss this information with another agency. If the nurse thinks it’s best to talk to someone else about the problem, they will usually explain the reasons why and talk to the young person about this.

In most cases, it is best for the young person to talk to their parents about any problems and concerns they may have, and the Youth Health Nurse can help them to do this.

Getting the best help for health needs
The Youth Health Nurse is available to talk to anyone about any concerns or problems they may have.

Some problems may be better dealt with by other professionals in the school or community. If the young person agrees, the nurse can work with other support staff in the school, or health professionals in the community to help with their problems.

At times it may be best for the young person to see another professional for further assistance, eg:

• guidance officer
• doctor
• chaplain
• alcohol and drug counsellor
• psychologist

As a general rule the Youth Health Nurse does not provide:

• treatments eg. medications, injections, first-aid
• physical examinations
• ongoing counselling for psychological or educational problems.

Working with students, staff and parents for healthier, more supportive schools
Apart from seeing people on an individual basis, the Youth Health Nurse works with the school community to identify and act on issues that may affect the health of students and the school community as a whole.

This includes helping with curriculum, teaching and learning activities, supporting the development of an environment and school culture that supports health and well being, and working with the community and other services.