School Nurses' Experiences Working With Unaccompanied Refugee Children and Adolescents: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

School nurses are one of the first health-care professionals to meet unaccompanied refugee children and adolescents and therefore have an important impact on health outcomes. The aim of this study was to describe school nurses' experiences working with unaccompanied refugee children and adolescents. Semistructured interviews were conducted with school nurses (n = 14) who worked with unaccompanied refugee children and adolescents. The interviews were analyzed via qualitative content analysis. The results fell into three themes: (a) knowledge of trauma-informed care, (b) knowledge of intercultural nursing, and (c) importance of self-awareness. School nurses require the development of tailor-made skills that focus on crisis, trauma, and cultural awareness to meet the complex needs associated with working with unaccompanied refugee children and adolescents.