Sharon Nobbs’ roles as a School Nurse and Youth Justice Nurse are helping her to raise awareness of the School Nursing Service and make it more accessible to children and young people.
Sharon qualified as a nurse in 2001 and worked in coronary care, as a district nurse and then a GP nurse before applying for a School Nursing position with Sirona in 2020.
She completed a Specialist Community Public Health Nursing Course in 2023 and worked with the South Gloucestershire School Nursing Team before landing a role as a Youth Justice Nurse in September last year.
Sharon now works as a Youth Justice Nurse in Bristol and as part of Sirona’s east-central School Nursing Team.
Bristol City Council’s Youth Justice Service (YJS) works with young people who have been involved in the justice system, which includes victims of crime. Sharon is part of the YJS resource team which includes professionals from CAMHS, police, speech and language therapy, social care, substance use support and education.
Sharon said: “They haven’t had a School Nurse in the service for a few years. I have worked collaboratively to create a bespoke service joining school nursing services with youth justice work
“Young people who have been involved with the youth justice system have support workers and we discuss new cases every week. They may ask me to work with a young person if they have health needs. Some of the issues I’ve helped with include sleep, periods, contraception, sexual health, filling in forms and referrals to specialist services including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and our Community Paediatric Service.
“I’m really enjoying it – it’s so interesting. I’m involved in the plans for a Bristol Young Futures Hub which we hope will give young people access to a variety of services under one roof – aimed at reducing risks for young people who are vulnerable to exploitation or being involved in crime.
“The Bristol Young Futures workstream is looking at ways to pull together resources in Bristol to work in collaboration. This includes considering trauma-informed practice and using the evidence base, including learning from safeguarding practice reviews on serious youth violence to provide support aimed at reducing the numbers of children in youth justice in Bristol.”
Sharon was awarded the title of Queen’s Nurse in 2024 for her work to reduce inequalities and reach vulnerable young people and families. Sharon ran sessions in community spaces, including youth groups and libraries, to reach young people who do not attend school and promote the School Nursing Service and our text messaging support service, ChatHealth.
She said: “There’s not enough awareness about what School Nurses do and how we can support children, young people and their families.
“It was great to be able talk to as many people as possible to explain we are a universal service for school-aged children and families.”
Sharon hopes her dual roles will enable more children and young people to access the support School Nurses can offer.
She said: “I think it’s a great opportunity to raise awareness of the support available for children and young people.
“Young people have access to services such as weekly school nurse drop-ins in mainstream secondary schools and our texting service ChatHealth. I think it is important young people know what is available and are empowered to access health and wellbeing services.
“As part of the School Nursing Service and Youth Justice Service, I’m in a unique position and can share learning with the wider School Nursing Team including post-graduate students studying Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) who I welcome to shadow me for a day to experience Youth Justice Service nursing. I’ve been learning a lot about trauma-informed practice and how we can be innovative and use the resources we have to reach as many young people as possible.”
Sharon’s title as Queen’s Nurse (QN) has also helped her in her roles as QNs can benefit from developmental workshops, bursaries and networking opportunities.
She said: “It offers good networking opportunities and training. I attended a three-day leadership conference and was able to use this learning to develop my role as a Youth Justice Service Nurse.”
