Analía Elizalde

Scholarly Project Advisor Denise Hammer DNP, RNC-NIC.

Affiliated Organization where the project occurred: New Trier High School, Northfield, IL.

Any Funding you received for the Project: ISU Graduate Student Grant.

External Dissemination of the Project (Podium or Poster): Illinois Association of School Nurses 66th conference (poster), Carle Clinical Inquiry Conference.

Publication: In revision.

Introduction/Problem

The increased health complexity of students attending the regular public classroom has heightened teachers’ responsibilities. These students can become severely ill rapidly, demanding fast actions from others to safeguard their lives. Educational sessions to learn, refresh, or review what to do during common medical emergencies in schools can improve the health outcome of those affected. Hands-on training is an effective teaching methodology to practice and gain proper psychomotor skills.

Methods

This quality improvement project was an evidence-based toolkit with hands-on training aimed to increase knowledge and improve the self-confidence of high school teachers handling medical emergencies. Part-and full-time high school teachers participated in this structured EBP toolkit intervention and voluntarily completed a pre- and post- intervention survey. The survey had the Learning-Self Efficacy scale and a knowledge questionnaire.

Findings

129 teachers participated in the training program; 95 completed the pre-survey, 81 completed the post survey, and 47 completed both. Participants were assessed on affective, cognitive, and psychomotor skills as well as knowledge regarding the four chronic health conditions. The results showed statistically significant increases in the overall self-efficacy report as well as in the individual domains. Similarly, the comparison of pre- and post- knowledge regarding the four conditions showed improvement in the selection of the correct answer.

Practice Implications

Hands on training provides teachers with the opportunity to hone the skills needed to increase their self-confidence to activate the emergency plan. The collaborative approach of the school nurse and teachers is the bridge to bring health equity to the school setting and provide students with a safe place to learn albeit their health status.