1. Asthma policy in Illinois: A survey of school nursing and staff knowledge and implementation patterns.
- Author
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Hardy P, Gonzalez M, Volerman A, Salem E, Amerson N, Woolverton N, Geiger SD, and Pappalardo AA
- Subjects
- Humans, Illinois epidemiology, Cross-Sectional Studies, Surveys and Questionnaires, Female, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Male, Child, Adult, School Health Services organization & administration, Nebulizers and Vaporizers, Asthma drug therapy, Asthma nursing, School Nursing, Health Policy
- Abstract
Objective: Our goal is to examine gaps in self-carry, asthma emergency protocol, and stock inhaler policy knowledge in Illinois schools., Design: A 30-item REDCap cross-sectional survey developed by a team of stakeholders was disseminated. Questions assessed policy knowledge, awareness, and practices regarding asthma emergency protocols, self-carry, and stock inhalers., Sample: Participants were Illinois school nurses belonging to a governmental organization listserv., Measurements: Analysis utilized Chi-square tests, descriptive statistics, and t-tests., Results: Nurses reported 36% of students on average self-carried asthma medication. Thirty percent of nurses were not aware of their emergency asthma policy and only 60% reported having an emergency asthma protocol in their school(s). Fifty-four percent of nurses were aware of stock inhaler programming. Of the 10.3% who reported a stock inhaler program, a lower frequency reported calling 911 for asthma emergencies. Perceived school asthma prevalence varied from 0%-87%., Conclusions: Our survey demonstrates large variation in knowledge and implementation of school-based asthma health policy. This is likely due to variations in health policy education dissemination. Future efforts should focus on the dissemination and implementation of school-based asthma health policies to improve their more universal adoption and better support school-based asthma management., (© 2024 The Authors. Public Health Nursing published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)
- Published
- 2024
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