Impact of an Education Intervention on Missouri K-12 School Disaster and Biological Event Preparedness.

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND A 2011 nationwide school pandemic preparedness study found schools to be deficient. We examined the impact of a school nurse educational intervention aimed at improving K-12 school biological event preparedness. METHODS Missouri Association of School Nurses ( MASN) members were e-mailed a survey link in fall 2013 (ie, preintervention), links to online education modules (ie, intervention) in late fall, and a postintervention survey link in spring, 2014. School biological event readiness was measured using 35 indicators, for a possible score range of 0-35. A paired t-test compared pre- to postintervention preparedness scores. RESULTS A total of 133 school nurses (33.6% response rate) completed a survey; 35.3% of those (N = 47) completed both pre- and postintervention survey that could be matched. Pre- and postintervention preparedness scores ranged from 5 to 28.5 ( [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]