Role Overview
The School Nurse will lead day-to-day health care, first aid, emergency response, health records, and wellness support for Sankore’s founding school community. This role is central to creating a safe, caring, and well-organized environment where scholars can learn with confidence and families can trust that health needs are managed with professionalism and discretion.
The School Nurse will manage the school clinic, provide basic medical care to students and staff, support children with allergies, chronic conditions, and individual health needs, maintain accurate confidential records, and coordinate with families, staff, external providers, and emergency services when needed.
As part of a founding team, the School Nurse will also help build Sankore’s health systems from the ground up, including clinic protocols, medication procedures, immunization tracking, health and safety routines, referral pathways, and preventive health education.
Core Responsibilities
Student Health Care and First Aid
- Provide first aid, basic medical care, and initial assessment for students and staff during school hours.
- Respond calmly and effectively to injuries, illness, accidents, and medical emergencies.
- Assess when a student can return to class, requires rest, needs family contact, or should be referred for further medical care.
- Administer prescribed medication in line with school policy, parental consent, and professional nursing standards.
- Support students with allergies, asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and other chronic or ongoing health needs.
Clinic Management and Medical Readiness
- Set up, maintain, and manage the school clinic as a clean, safe, child-friendly, and well-equipped space.
- Maintain appropriate first aid supplies, medication storage, emergency equipment, and clinic inventory.
- Develop and follow protocols for injury response, illness management, medication administration, infection prevention, and referrals.
- Ensure health equipment and supplies are stored, monitored, and replenished appropriately.
- Support health readiness for school trips, sports, events, and other off-site or higher-risk activities.
Health Records, Confidentiality, and Compliance
- Maintain accurate, confidential, and up-to-date student health records.
- Track medical histories, allergies, chronic conditions, medication permissions, emergency contacts, and care plans.
- Monitor immunization documentation in line with Ministry of Health expectations and school requirements.
- Prepare appropriate reports for school leadership while protecting student confidentiality.
- Ensure clinic documentation supports continuity of care, safeguarding, compliance, and responsible decision-making.
Emergency Response and Health and Safety
- Serve as a key responder during medical incidents, accidents, drills, and emergencies.
- Coordinate with the Business Manager and school leadership on health, safety, and risk management.
- Liaise with nearby health facilities, ambulance providers, and emergency services when escalation is required.
- Support development and implementation of emergency medical protocols.
- Participate in health and safety audits, risk assessments, evacuation drills, and incident reviews.
Safeguarding, Child Protection, and Student Wellbeing
- Uphold Sankore’s safeguarding and child protection policies at all times.
- Identify and report health-related concerns that may indicate neglect, abuse, emotional distress, or other safeguarding risks.
- Work closely with school leadership, teachers, and relevant staff to support students’ physical, emotional, and developmental wellbeing.
- Maintain professional boundaries, confidentiality, and child-centered practice.
- Help ensure that every student feels treated with dignity, care, and respect.
Family, Staff, and Community Partnership
- Communicate clearly and respectfully with families about student health concerns, incidents, medication, follow-up care, and preventive health needs.
- Partner with teachers and staff so they understand relevant student health plans and emergency procedures.
- Provide practical guidance to staff on first aid response, hygiene, infection prevention, and health-related classroom considerations.
- Support family engagement around wellness, nutrition, hygiene, immunization, and child development.
- Build trust with families through professionalism, discretion, and consistent follow-through.
Health Promotion and Preventive Education
- Support school-wide wellness initiatives related to hygiene, nutrition, physical health, mental health, puberty education, infection prevention, and healthy routines.
- Contribute to age-appropriate health education in partnership with educators.
- Monitor patterns in student illness or injury and recommend preventive actions.
- Promote a culture of health, safety, and care across the school.
- Support public health preparedness, including communicable disease prevention and response.
Founding Systems and Continuous Improvement
- Help design Sankore’s clinic procedures, forms, logs, referral systems, and health communication templates.
- Recommend improvements to school health policies and operating routines.
- Use data from clinic visits, incidents, and health trends to strengthen prevention and response.
- Work with the Business Manager to ensure health systems are practical, compliant, and sustainable.
- Contribute to a founding team culture of learning, reflection, accountability, and care.
Core Competencies
- Clinical judgment: Assesses symptoms, injuries, and risks accurately and knows when to treat, monitor, refer, or escalate.
- Emergency readiness: Responds calmly, quickly, and professionally during urgent health incidents.
- Child-centered care: Builds trust with young learners and treats every child with dignity, patience, and respect.
- Confidentiality and ethics: Handles sensitive medical and family information with discretion and professionalism.
- Family communication: Explains health concerns clearly and respectfully to parents and guardians.
- Organization and documentation: Maintains accurate records, reliable systems, and orderly clinic operations.
- Safeguarding awareness: Recognizes and reports concerns appropriately while following school policy.
- Collaboration: Works effectively with teachers, operations staff, leadership, families, and external health providers.
- Preventive mindset: Uses health data, observation, and education to reduce risk and promote wellbeing.
- Founding-school adaptability: Builds systems, solves problems, and works flexibly in a growing school environment.
