Development and validation of an instrument to measure scope of practice in school nurses.

School nurses play a key role in population health and frequently serve as the sole provider of healthcare in schools worldwide. However, variability in school nursing practice affects the health, safety and educational outcomes of children and youth. No instrument exists that measures the scope of practice of school nurses. Frontline school nurses can use the SSNPT to assess practice, school nurse administrators can use the tool for resource utilization and school nurse researchers can use the tool to examine school nursing practices' impact on student/community health and academic outcomes. The SSNPT may provide a template for others who wish to examine specialty nursing scope of practice.