The current state of international research on the effectiveness of school nurses in promoting the health of children and adolescents: An overview of reviews.

OBJECTIVE: School nurses are engaging worldwide to promote and protect children's health. Many researchers who examined the effectiveness of the school nurse criticized the inadequate methodology employed in many of the studies. We therefore carried out an evaluation on the effectiveness of school nurses based on a rigorous methodological approach. METHODS: In this overview of reviews we performed an electronic databank search and global research results on the effectiveness of school nurses were sought. We identified 1,494 records through database search. Abstracts and full texts were screened and summarized using the dual control principle. We summarized the aspects of quality criteria as well as the significance of the effectiveness of the school nurse. In the first step, k = 16 systematic reviews were summarized and evaluated following the AMSTAR-2 guidelines. In a second step, j = 357 primary studies included in these k = 16 reviews were summarized and assessed following the GRADE guidelines. RESULTS: Research results on the effectiveness of school nurses show that school nurses play a key role in improving the health of children with asthma (j = 6) and diabetes (j = 2), results on combating obesity are less certain (j = 6). The quality of identified reviews is mostly very low with only six studies of medium quality, of which one identified as a meta-analysis. A total of j = 289 primary studies were identified. Approximately 25% (j = 74) of identified primary studies were either randomized controlled trials (RCT) or observational studies, of which roughly 20% (j = 16) had a low risk of bias. Studies with physiological variables such as blood glucose or asthma labeling led to higher quality results. CONCLUSION: This paper represents an initial contribution and recommends further evaluation of the effectiveness of school nurses, particularly in the areas of mental health or children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The general lack of quality standards in school nursing research should be integrated into the scientific discourse of school nursing researchers to provide robust evidence for policy planners and researchers.

Experiences of Discrimination and Everyday Racism Among Children and Adolescents With an Immigrant Background - Results of a Systematic Literature Review on the Impact of Discrimination on the Developmental Outcomes of Minors Worldwide.

Experiences of discrimination such as everyday racism can negatively affect the mental and physical health of children and adolescents with an immigrant background and impair their integration process in the host societies. Although experiences of racism are part of the everyday life of many minors affected by the process of "Othering" (e.g., those with an immigrant background), an overview of empirical findings is missing for this age group worldwide. A systematic review was conducted to identify and analyze international research on the impact of discrimination on the developmental outcomes and integration of immigrant children and adolescents. Three scientific databases were systematically searched up to June 11, 2021. A total of k = 4,769 identified publications were reviewed based on inclusion and exclusion criteria in terms of the PICOS format by independent reviewers. Thirty-four primary studies published between 1998 and 2021 met all inclusion criteria. The samples examined were mainly migrant youth (k = 30), with only k = 2 studies assessing refugee youth and k = 1 study assessing both migrant and refugee youth. The majority of included studies assessed perceived discrimination, with only k = 1 study directly assessing experiences of racism. The association between discrimination or racism and developmental outcomes was assessed by the included studies within the three main topics of (a) mental and physical health-related outcomes (k = 30, e.g., self-esteem, depressive symptoms), (b) school-related outcomes (k = 6, e.g., academic achievement), and (c) other developmental outcomes (k = 13, e.g., misconduct or delinquency). Data collection procedures were implemented, and findings on minors' developmental outcomes and integration process who experience discrimination and racism were summarized and discussed. The current review suggests experienced (racial) discrimination as a negative predictor of children and adolescents' (mental) health-related outcomes, while no clear results could be found for the association between discrimination and school-related outcomes. A need for more empirical research focusing on the path and (possibly) indirect link between discrimination and children and adolescents' school-related outcomes as well as resulting school recommendations and the chosen career path was derived. Systematic Review Registration: [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=260291], identifier [CRD42021260291].