Background: The purpose of this study is to examine school nurses experience after implementation of psychological first aid kit and to provide new knowledge and experience to the field preventive psychosocial work among children and young people.
Main research question: How has psychological first aid kit been implemented in primary school and what experiences has school nurse received after implementation and use of psychological first aid kit?
Theory: Previous theory and research on children's mental health where words like prevention, psychological first aid kit, mental health and school nurse are central have been used in this task. The study has a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach that has helped me in the interpretation and analysis of the informant´s statements.
Method: A qualitative survey where I have interviewed six school nurses, all of whom have at least two years of experience with the use of psychological first aid kit in primary school. The school nurses were interviewed using a semistructured interview guide, and the basis for the analysis was the informant's experiences and interpretations.
Summary: Successful implementation requires that the teacher experience useful value so that the method also is used after the school nurse has finished teaching. My material showed that some of the children used the knowledge to express their feelings and that the education led some of the children to contact the school nurse afterwards. An advantage for the school nurse was that teaching proved time-saving for her because when she met the children in individual conversations afterwards, the children remembered some of the method. There is a power in all health information because it will never be neutral and the criticism from the parents showed that this aspect must be considered by the healthcare practitioner against the implementation. Findings of positive unintended effects were about the school nurses experience of increased integration in school, the pleasure of getting a tool in the work of mental health and her ability to market the school nurse role. The negative unintended effects were that the teaching took time away from other tasks such as puberty groups and open doors for the students at school.
Keywords: Preventive work, psychological first aid kit, children and adolescents, mental health and school nurse.