I love my job as a school nurse even though it’s a busy role.

My day begins with an appointment with a girl who originally came to see me due to anxiety. I haven’t seen her for couple of weeks; she’s keen to tell me how she is now better able to manage her worries.

Next, the school have asked me to see a pupil because of concerns about his lack of eating. He doesn’t show up so I will have to invite him again. I use this time to follow up on health assessments for those moving up from primary school, making a couple of calls to parents, one about bed wetting and another about asthma.

My phone sounds with a text request for a pregnancy test. All too often young people don’t know who their school nurse is (pdf), where they are, or what they do. I am proud to be part of a service where that is no longer the case. Our commissioners, Oxfordshire county council, based one qualified school nurse in each secondary school on a full-time basis. This hasn’t been replicated around the country.

Sam, 15, drops in asking for a chlamydia screen. He knows I can issue the necessary antibiotic treatment in the event of a positive result. I routinely question him for signs of abuse or grooming. Tragically, Oxfordshire’s had its share of child sexual exploitation.

Another student comes in for an appointment. She has been making positive changes in her lifestyle and is feeling much better. We spend our time together looking at food labels.

Next I lead a lesson with year 10s looking at positive mental health and resilience. English children are some of the unhappiest in western Europe, according to research by the Children’s Society (pdf). Much of our one-to-one work involves mental health. Without good mental health, the usual teenage challenges are much more difficult.

I eat lunch in my room as pupils pop in for varying reasons. Being school based makes us very accessible to young people. The vision is to provide a safe, trustworthy school-based service, supporting pupils with all aspects of their health, identifying potential problems early and making a positive impact on outcomes. Monthly contact with young people has doubled since September 2014. The feedback from schools and pupils is so positive. A year 10 girl calls in asking for emergency contraception. There’s only five minutes left of lunchtime, and I have an assembly to deliver so we make arrangements to meet after.

The year 13s are about to go on study leave, so the assembly I have planned is about them taking responsibility for their health and personal safety. It’s well received and we have a bit of a laugh.

The year 10 student comes back as planned, if she hadn’t I would have found her. She is still 15 so I assess her level of Gillick competence (the capacity of a child to consent to treatment without parental consent) within Fraser guidelines (the guidance from Lord Fraser around contraceptive supply or advice for under 16’s), risk taking, and discuss starting a reliable method of contraception.

She’s going to think about the pill, which she can get from me, and whether she would like to talk to her

parents about this decision. She leaves with condoms for now; I will follow her up to check the

emergency pill has worked. She could have got the emergency pill from a pharmacy or sexual health

clinic, but she wouldn’t have the same follow up.

I check my school emails and respond to a request for some sexual health teaching input for the year 9s. I also have an email from a young lad about his spots, one from a parent whose child needs us to immunise him at home, and another from a social worker about a very vulnerable young girl.

The last job of the day is providing educational supervision to a school nurse student. As a community practice teacher, I am responsible for facilitating their practice based learning and assessing their competence. Through supported reflection, I help her make links between theory and practice.

I get home around 5.30pm. I am employed full-time but today’s been a busy day and I haven’t managed to fit everything in. I finish the work day by completing my patient records.

It’s a frenetic, varied, deeply fulfilling role and I love it. I’m proud of the job I do, I’m delighted to be part of Oxford health NHS foundation trust, and play a part in this service.

Please note names have been changed to protect identity.

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• This article was amended on 10 July 2015 to add in a reference to Gillick competence and Fraser guidelines, which was previously omitted due to an editing error.