ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Schools struggle to support health needs of students with diabetes due to limited funding/resources. A competency framework can help individual schools clarify the knowledge and skills required for school-based diabetes care within their unique context, and inform the development of standardized diabetes education for health staff. METHODS: A consensus-building technique, known as the Delphi method, was used to create a competency framework for diabetes care at school with a panel of 37 stakeholders. A continuing education program based on the resultant framework was developed and pilot-tested with school nurses. Pretest and post-test scores on knowledge, perceived competence, and self-efficacy were compared to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. RESULTS: Consensus was obtained for a total of 70 competencies: 22 competencies for health aids, 36 additional competencies for school nurses, and 12 additional competencies for diabetes resource nurses. Thirty school nurses completed the continuing education program and demonstrated significant improvement in diabetes knowledge, self-efficacy, and competence in pathophysiology and diabetes care tasks (p < .01 for all). CONCLUSIONS: Developing a consensus framework is an excellent starting place for stakeholders to identify the skills and knowledge required for various school personnel and to ensure that all school health staff members receive adequate diabetes education.
Subject(s)
Clinical Competence , Curriculum , Diabetes Mellitus/therapy , Health Personnel/education , School Health Services , School Nursing/education , Colorado , Delphi Technique , Models, Educational , Pilot ProjectsSubject(s)
Anaphylaxis/nursing , Food Hypersensitivity/nursing , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Nurses, Pediatric , School Nursing/education , Anaphylaxis/epidemiology , Child , Epinephrine , Follow-Up Studies , Food Hypersensitivity/epidemiology , Humans , Nurse-Patient Relations , Schools, Nursing , Surveys and Questionnaires , Training Support , United States/epidemiologyABSTRACT
In 2013, a collaboration of organizations in Colorado developed a set of standards to address school nurses' need for current diabetes care practices in the school setting. The Standards of Care for Diabetes Management in the School Setting are successful in meeting the needs of the school nurses in Colorado and are updated annually to continue to provide valid guidelines as diabetes care continues to become more technological and new approaches are adopted. A review of the standards, including background, development, contents, evaluations, and ongoing additions, is provided in this article.
Subject(s)
Diabetes Mellitus/nursing , Disabled Children , Models, Nursing , School Nursing/standards , Students , Child , Colorado , Diabetes Mellitus/prevention & control , Humans , School Health ServicesSubject(s)
Adrenergic Agonists/administration & dosage , Anaphylaxis/drug therapy , Delivery of Health Care , Epinephrine/administration & dosage , Food Hypersensitivity/drug therapy , Health Education/methods , School Nursing , Teacher Training/methods , Adrenergic Agonists/adverse effects , Anaphylaxis/diagnosis , Anaphylaxis/immunology , Colorado , Epinephrine/adverse effects , Food Hypersensitivity/diagnosis , Food Hypersensitivity/immunology , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Humans , Injections , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
The health and well-being of children who attend school is not collected in any national data sets. To effectively advocate for the health needs of children where they live, learn, and play, it is essential to build a National Uniform School Nurse Data Set. In 2014, school nurses nationwide were invited to join the Step Up and Be Counted! initiative. To prepare nurses for data collection and reporting, an informational website was established, a marketing campaign was launched, and a data collection tool was developed. Trainings were held at the national conferences of both the National Association of School Nurses and the National Association of State School Nurse Consultants, and locally by state school nurse consultants and champions. The goal of the 2014-2015 academic year was to establish the processes for such a large-scale effort. In Year 1, only three initial data sets were collected from participating school nurses from 37 states. The first year yielded much data, and challenges have been identified and addressed.
Subject(s)
Datasets as Topic , School Health Services/statistics & numerical data , School Nursing/statistics & numerical data , Chronic Disease/epidemiology , Humans , United States/epidemiology , WorkforceABSTRACT
The National Association of School Nurses and National Association of State School Nurse Consultants Joint Work Group agreed on identified common data points and an initial process for nationwide data collection by school nurses. The emerging process was presented at both the 2014 National Association of School Nurses and the National Association of State School Nurse Consultants annual meetings in San Antonio. The time is now to begin the process for ALL school nurses to collect data to begin building a national school nursing data set. This article is the second of a series and outlines the how, why, and when for collecting identified data indicators. It provides the talking points and collection tool necessary to Step Up and Be Counted!
Subject(s)
Databases, Factual/standards , School Health Services/organization & administration , School Health Services/standards , School Nursing/organization & administration , Child , Data Collection/standards , Humans , Terminology as TopicABSTRACT
School nurses collect voluminous amounts of data in a variety of ways and use the data to describe trends in students' health and patterns of illness in the student population or to identify ways to improve care. NASN identified years ago that a national school nurse data set was needed to enable data-driven decision making for the millions of children who attend school each day across the United States. Informal work has been done in the past 5 years in preparation for the current joint NASN/ National Association of State School Nurse Consultants workgroup. This article is the first of a two-part series related to the importance of data and national efforts to develop a uniform data set that all school nurses can collect. Collecting data, and collecting it in the same way as other providers, will demonstrate what school nurses do as well as provide the data necessary for robust research on the impact of school nurses on students' health.
Subject(s)
Databases, Factual/standards , Documentation/standards , Electronic Health Records/standards , School Health Services/standards , School Nursing/standards , Child , HumansABSTRACT
Students with diabetes deserve a school nurse who can effectively manage the disease. Tensions between the school and families sometimes emerge when a child with diabetes goes to school. To resolve these tensions in Colorado, stakeholders collaborated to implement a statewide program to meet the needs of students with diabetes. Colorado school nursing leadership partnered with the National Association of School Nurses to adapt components of the Managing and Preventing Diabetes and Weight Gain Program (MAP), funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Healthy Learner Model for Chronic Condition Management, integral to MAP, provided guidance for the Colorado Collaborative to design the Diabetes Resource Nurse Program. The program supports the practicing school nurse, and facilitates collaboration between the family, school, and health care provider. This article describes how stakeholders in Colorado chose to collaborate when faced with rising tensions over how to best manage students with diabetes.
Subject(s)
Community-Institutional Relations , Diabetes Mellitus/nursing , Health Promotion/methods , Nurse's Role , School Health Services/organization & administration , School Nursing/organization & administration , Adolescent , Child , Colorado/epidemiology , Diabetes Mellitus/prevention & control , Disease Management , Efficiency, Organizational , Female , Humans , Male , Program Evaluation , Quality Assurance, Health Care/organization & administration , Schools/organization & administrationABSTRACT
The school nurse plays an important role in helping students with a brain injury be successful in school by advocating for the student in the classroom, providing case management and helping families access appropriate resources.
