The Royal College of Nursing has raised concerns over the connection between the falling number of school nurses and the mental health crisis happening in schools across Britain.
The body conducted a poll which revealed that most school nurses felt overworked and that 28% of those work more hours than they are contracted for on a daily basis.
They are now calling on the Government to make bigger efforts to tackle the issue at their annual conference in Glasgow.
Since 2010, the number of school nurses has dropped by 10% to 2,700 who are responsible for a huge nine million pupils across the UK.
And with one in 10 children between the ages of five and 16 suffering from a mental health disorder, the RCN wants to highlight the importance of making school nurses available to all children who may need them.
The RCN surveyed 277 school nurses of which 68% believed current nursing services were insufficient in their area.
Chief executive and general secretary of the RCN, Janet Davies said:
"Mental health is a mounting problem for children and young people.
"There are huge variations in care across the country and far too many vulnerable children are just not getting the support they need.
"School nurses have the skills and the experience to provide a wide range of mental health support, from counselling to promoting healthy lifestyles. But, as our survey shows, there are too few of them, and they are simply too stretched.
"All children deserve access to the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
"Only by investing in school nursing and wider mental health services, can this crisis be tackled and children be given the best chance possible of leading happy and healthy lives."
The Government has responded to these calls by saying:
"Children's mental health is a priority for this Government and we are putting a record £1.4 billion into transforming the support available to young people in every area of the country.
"This funding will help recruit more staff and create improved training that school nurses can access.
"We are working with NHS England to strengthen the links between schools and mental health services through a £3 million pilot, and are investing £1.5 million on developing peer-support networks in schools."
