Roles and responsibilities

Wellbeing and Health In-reach Nurse (WHIN) Coordinator Program - Guideline

On this page

Wellbeing nurse

The wellbeing nurse is supported by the local health district and Director, Educational Leadership to work across selected public schools and health and community settings to:

  • work with school principals to establish the program in schools
  • develop networks and effective referral pathways with health and community services and programs
  • implement the WHIN Coordinator Program Model of Care.

Establishing the WHIN Coordinator program in schools

The wellbeing nurse works with the school principal and school staff to establish the WHIN Coordinator program in schools. This includes:

  • developing a clear referral pathway and processes in the school to effectively implement the WHIN Coordinator program
  • developing a communication plan to introduce the role to school staff and school community
  • establishing relationships with key school staff and integrating and working with the school learning and support and wellbeing teams
  • attending (either in person or remotely) the school learning and support and wellbeing team meetings and other meetings that are deemed relevant for the wellbeing nurses’ role
  • using communication resources to promote ongoing awareness of the WHIN Coordinator program and wellbeing nurse role to students, their family and school staff
  • attending local WHIN Coordinator program governance committee meetings with the wellbeing nurse manager, the principals and the Directors, Educational Leadership or delegate and reporting on their service activity and issues and concerns affecting delivery of the service.

Developing networks and referral pathways with key service providers

The wellbeing nurse builds connections and effective referral pathways with health and community services and programs by:

  • establishing links and integrating the WHIN Coordinator program with local health district services and NSW Health programs (Appendix 2)
  • cultivating partnerships with local private health and community services and providers and providing information about the WHIN Coordinator program  (Appendix 2)
  • identifying services out of area that may accept referral for service provision via virtual care where local services are limited or not available
  • maintaining regular contact with health and community services to maintain recency of service knowledge and referral pathways.

Implementing the WHIN Coordinator Program Model of Care 

Key features of the WHIN Coordinator Program Model of Care model are to:

  • build trusting relationships with students and their family members to identify and assess their health and social needs and address barriers to accessing services
  • coordinate access to appropriate early and therapeutic intervention, assessments and referral of students and family members to services and programs, including support to attend health appointments where appropriate
  • contribute to care coordination and case management of students and their family members
  • support access to health promotion to improve health literacy and engagement of students and their family members
  • work with students and their family members, 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 family members access the health and wellbeing services and supports they need
  • respond to child wellbeing and child protection concerns in accordance with NSW Health child protection policies and processes and be aware of NSW Department of Education child polices relating to child protection and wellbeing
  • operate in accordance with legal responsibilities, NSW Health and local health district policies and procedures
  • abide by agreed local working protocols and partnership arrangements with schools and other 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.

Activities out of scope

  • 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, including tube feeding, tracheotomy suctioning, diabetes management
  • providing personal care procedures such as toileting.

Reporting requirements

The wellbeing nurse:

  • informs the school principal/s and the wellbeing nurse’s line manager of any operational issues that may impact the delivery of the WHIN Coordinator program such as changes to their days at the school, sick or annual leave
  • in accordance with school processes, communicates 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
  • uses the NSW Health patient administration system to record and maintain patient activity data
  • uses 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 and time student may be taken off school grounds to attend a medical appointment
    • date student is discharged from the WHIN Coordinator program
  • completes mandatory reporting for children and young people at suspected risk of significant harm (ROSH) and informs the school principal that a report has been made
  • provides de-identified service level progress reports for the wellbeing nurse’s line manager, school principal and program local governance committee, when requested
  • reports work safety incidents to the wellbeing nurse’s line manager and school principal
  • reports 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 district’s 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)
  • informs the school principal of adverse events or incidents to enable the school to comply with their own incident management procedures.

Training

NSW Health mandatory training

The wellbeing nurse undertakes the following training:

  • Mandatory training determined by the local health district
  • NSW Health My Health Learning modules:
    • Child Wellbeing and Child Protection Parts 1, 2 and 3 (Course Codes 183216327, 183212149 and 183356907)
    • Child Protection targeted training (Course Code 64042171)
    • HEEADSSS assessment – working effectively with young people Learning Pathway (Course Codes 159949091, 160031090, 160031203, 160031204)
    • Sharing Information to Support and Protect Vulnerable Children and Young People (Course Code: 164528345)

NSW Health training relevant to the role

The wellbeing nurse can also access evidence based learning resources that support continued professional development relevant to their role via the NSW Health Wellbeing Nurse Learning Navigator on NSW Health My Health Learning platform (Course Code: 517822172). Wellbeing nurses can select from six topic areas:

  • clinical practice
  • nursing leadership
  • interagency collaborative partnerships
  • professional, legal and ethical practice
  • communication
  • evidence, safety and quality improvement.

NSW Department of Education mandatory training

The wellbeing nurse also undertake the following online NSW Department of Education mandatory training on MyPL platform:

  • Aboriginal Cultural Education – Lets take the first step (AC00560)
  • Anaphylaxis e-learning (NRG01569, NRG01570, NRG01610
  • Anti-Racism Policy Training (NR30069)
  • Child Protection Awareness Induction Training (NR28972)
  • Child Protection Update 2024 (NR41255)
  • Code of Conduct (NR27345)
  • Code of Conduct refresher training (NR27345)
  • Cybersecurity NSW Essential training (NR31133)
  • Cyber Security NSW Essential Refresher training (NR36708)
  • Data Breach Preparedness Module 1: Reporting Data Breaches (NRG12326)
  • e-Emergency Care (NRG 14190)
  • Fraud and Corruption Control (NR33012)
  • WHS Induction for employees (NR33383)

School site inductions

The wellbeing nurse attends school site inductions at each participating school prior to the start of delivering the program. The inductions include information about:

  • site facilities
  • contact details of relevant school staff
  • first aid arran gements
  • site emergency responses (evacuation, lockdown, lockout)
  • reporting inju lnesses or safety hazards in the workplace.

NSW Health Local Health District[1]

The local health district is responsible for:

  • employment of wellbeing nurses
  • providing wellbeing nurses with laptops, mobile phones and access to local health district fleet vehicles[2]
  • management and support of wellbeing nurses, including performance management, rostering, payroll, leave management, and disciplinary/grievance functions
  • approving wellbeing nurses’ activities during school holidays, including where the nurse works and who provides day-to-day support
  • ensuring wellbeing nurses follow the Wellbeing and Health In-reach Nurse Coordinator Program Model of Care
  • ensuring wellbeing nurses have access to ongoing and regular clinical supervision to support them to implement their skills appropriately, encourage self-evaluation of performance, explore complex or challenging situations and allow debriefing and reflection following traumatic experiences
  • consulting with the school principal about the performance of the wellbeing nurse and the implementation of the program by the wellbeing nurse at their school
  • communicating with school principals about any operational issues impacting on the delivery of program
  • ensuring wellbeing nurses completes all NSW Health mandatory training
  • supporting wellbeing nurses to access training to enhance their skills and knowledge relevant to their role
  • ensuring wellbeing nurses understand and comply with Child Wellbeing and Child Protection Policies and Procedures for NSW Health (PD2013_007)[3]
  • following up on relevant incidents occurring on the school sites reported by wellbeing nurses 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 wellbeing nurses are up to date with documenting the service events in a client's electronic medical record (eMR) in line with local health district processes[4]
  • working with Directors, Educational Leadership or delegate to establish and coordinate the local WHIN Coordinator Program Governance group
  • ensuring an appropriate NSW Department of Education delegate is represented on the recruitment panels for the wellbeing nurses, in consultation with the Director, Educational Leadership
  • registering the WHIN Coordinator program 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 see students and their family members in privacy. The room should be clearly signed indicating the availability of the wellbeing nurse
  • ensuring the wellbeing nurse has access to wifi, 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 family members, 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/guardian 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

In addition to the above school principal responsibilities, the school principal in the base school is also responsible for ensuring the wellbeing nurse:

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, the local health district, school principal and wellbeing nurse 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
  • identifying a furnished space at the school for the wellbeing nurse to deliver the program 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.

NSW Department of Education Director, Educational Leadership

The Director, Educational Leadership who provides leadership, supervision and 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 Guideline 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 WHIN Coordinator Program Governance groups
  • escalating issues to the NSW Department of Education that cannot be resolved by the WHIN Coordinator Program Governance committee.

Footnotes

  1. NSW Health local health district responsibilities apply to Albury Wodonga Health.
  2. Local health district fleet vehicles may occasionally be unavailable to wellbeing nurses due to unscheduled local health district clinical emergency. Wellbeing nurse can continue to deliver the program to students and families through virtual care.
  3. The wellbeing nurse is a mandatory reporter and has a legal responsibility to report suspected child abuse and neglect to the relevant government authorities.
  4. 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.
Current as at: Thursday 25 July 2024
Contact page owner: Disability, Youth and Paediatric Health