Laura Burns, RN, BSN¹, Lucie Ferguson, PhD, RN², Adrienne Keller, PhD³, Elizabeth L. McGarvey, EdD³, and Thomas Platts-Mills, MD, PhD⁴. (1) 2025 East Main Street, CARMA, 21 Professional Building, Suite 207, Richmond, VA 23223, 804-717-1997, lburns@carmakids.org, (2) Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital, Bon Secours Richmond Health System, 1500 N. 28th Street, Richmond, VA 23223, (3) Division of Prevention Research, Dept. of Psychiatric Medicine, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 800623, Charlottesville, VA 22908, (4) Department of Medicine, Allergy & Immunology, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 800225, Charlottesville, VA 22908

Controlling Asthma in the Richmond Metropolitan Area (CARMA) is a CDC-funded project targeting children with severe and moderate poorly-controlled asthma. As with all chronic disease, effective management depends on the quality of communication between families and care-givers. A major goal of CARMA is to improve the partnership among physicians, school nurses, parents and other primary care givers. To understand the perspective and needs of nurses serving day cares, preschools and schools in the Richmond metropolitan area, a large convenience sample of 65 nurses completed a detailed questionnaire: 95% of participants were RNs; 49% served in elementary schools. School size ranged from less than 100 to several thousand students; 36% of participants served two or more schools. Approximately 70% of the nurses reported than more than 9% of children in their school(s) had asthma; 17% reported that at least 25% of the children in the school(s) they served had asthma. About 87% of participants reported that most children do not have peak flow meters. Almost half (45%) reported having to call 911 at least once in the last school year because of a child’s asthma. Almost all participants (~90%) reported that they had received training in using an inhaler or nebulizer and were confident of their expertise. Over 70% reported that written asthma care plans are useful or very useful, but very few children have written care plans. While approximately 84% of the nurses knew of the NIH Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma, only 30% reported using the Guidelines.

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