The school nursing profession in relation to Bourdieu’s concepts of capital, habitus and field

Abstract

The aim was to define the work and professional role of school nurses, in terms of Bourdieu's key concepts of capital and habitus. A qualitative study with a deductive approach, based on data from six focus-group interviews with 24 school nurses and 15 individual interviews with school nurses. Thus, a total of 39 school nurses participated in the study. The data were analysed using content analysis. The results explain, in terms of Bourdieu's key concepts of capital and habitus, how school nurses experience their work in the educational setting. A model including different aspects of school nurses' work is shown. The new Swedish Education Act focuses on promoting students' general health, so that they are able to reach their academic potential. In this task, the school nurse is to be one of a group of several professionals working together. The present study shows how school nurses experience their professional role and their work in relation to Bourdieu's concepts of capital, habitus and field. To strengthen the school nursing profession, school nurses need to show their competence in promoting students' health.