Abstract
ProblemDespite reports that asthma is the leading cause of school absenteeism and the third leading cause of hospitalization in children under 15 years, little is known about how school nurses are educated and trained to manage asthma in schools. The current scoping review sought to describe the published literature on available asthma education programs for school nurses to manage asthma in schoolchildren. Eligibility criteriaThis paper used Arksey and O'Malley's (2005) scoping review framework to identify the existing literature on the education and training received by school nurses to provide evidence-based practice care to school students with asthma, aged 5 to 18 years. SampleA search strategy was developed and implemented in 6 electronic databases including PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, ERIC, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO, from 1980 to 2020. A total of 1012 citations were identified, 27 full-text articles were retrieved and assessed for eligibility, and eight studies were finally reviewed and synthesized. ResultsThe educational programs throughout four interventional studies consisted of a one-time training session, followed by a practical demonstration. Four out of 8 included studies assessed school nurses' previous exposure to an asthma educational programs through needs assessment surveys. The education delivery methods need to be synchronized with global technological advances and the availability of smartphones. ConclusionThere is a need to highlight school nurses' asthma educational needs and the preferred ways of delivering asthma programs to school nurses. The review also called for ongoing skill and knowledge assessment strategies to ensure the delivery of evidence-based practice care. ImplicationsThere is a need to standardize asthma education programs delivered to school nurses. Future empirical research is recommended to investigate and evaluate such programs.
Highlights
Asthma is one of the most prevalent respiratory conditions in children (Harris et al, 2019)
Two studies provided details on the person delivering the education to school nurses (Putman & Pinto, 2011; Winkelstein et al, 2006); the educator was a certified registered nurse asthma educator in both studies
This review found that time limitations, lack of financial resources, difficulty in finding a workshop location that is convenient for all school nurses, and the distance nurses had to travel to the workshop were the most common barriers to receiving asthma education (Ramos et al, 2014; Winkelstein et al, 2006)
Summary
Asthma is one of the most prevalent respiratory conditions in children (Harris et al, 2019). Children with asthma are more susceptible to physical and emotional disabilities, and are more likely to have reduced academic achievement (Nurmagambeto et al, 2018; Rhee et al, 2017). Asthma accounts for about 1% of all disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost (Nunes et al, 2017). Children spend a considerable amount of time at school. It is estimated that 36,000 children are absent from school every day due to asthma symptoms (Croisant, 2014). Children with asthma miss more school days than children without asthma, putting them at higher risk of low academic performance and poor intellectual development (Hsu et al, 2016)
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