Biblioteca Virtual en Salud Enfermería

Special health needs (SHN) are defined as “resulting from health problems with an impact on functionality and the need for intervention in a school environment, such as irregularity or the need for special conditions in school attendance and a negative impact on the learning process or in individual development ”(DGS, 2015, p.43). The Nurse Specialist in Community Nursing must support children with SHN throughout their school and social life, promoting a school for all and to all. In the academic year 2018/2019, a program in the School Health area called “Living (with) the difference” was implemented in children/adolescents with NSE from the Learning Support Centers (LSC) of two basic schools in Greater Porto. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the knowledge about the impact of community nursing interventions, and the objectives are to know the impact of nursing program “Living (with) the difference” on the school communities of two CAA and describe the nursing needs after its implementation. Having these objectives in mind, was developed a crosssectional descriptive study with a multimethod approach. The population of the study is 22 individuals, 4 teachers, 2 non-teachers and 16 guardians of children/adolescents with SHN from two LSC in Grande Porto. The impact of the community nursing program “Living (with) the difference” is reflected in improving children's/adolescents' knowledge about sexuality. The improvement of knowledge about strategies to be used by teachers to deal with the behaviors of children/ adolescents led to a decrease in agitation in the classroom. In addition, the implementation of the program has improved the ability of teachers to address the themes of socioemotional competences and sexuality in the classroom and the knowledge of professionals regarding positions, transfers, alimentation and acting in case of emergency. The current nursing needs of the two LSC are training for professionals in areas such as alimentation and sexuality, programs/projects for children including sensory stimulation activities and the more regular presence of nurses in LSC to help with each child's specific problems. The school community considers these types of school health programs important for the development of children/adolescents with SHN and to improve the care provided to them by the LSC professionals.