Addressing medical needs of students: A web-based program that increases capacity through the education of teachers and other school personnel

The Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) system in Louisville Kentucky, serves the educational needs of over 97,000 students at 150 schools and learning centers and is the 28th largest school district in the United States. Addressing the medical needs of all students during their school day includes time spent in the classroom as well as during organized after school activities such as field trips and time spent on the school bus. These medical needs include administration of routine oral, eye, ear, and topical medication but also includes emergency interventions including administration of epinephrine, glucagon, and rectal diazepam. Ensuring that students have access to competent and trained individuals required that this school system think about how standardized training can be provided to all school nurses as well as key individuals within each school and learning center. Nine Web-based training courses were developed and equipped with adjuncts such as pop-up documents, video clips, and forms. These courses include basic medication administration, administering medication on field trips, asthma, diabetes, seizures, gastrostomy tubes, tracheostomy and suctioning, allergy and anaphylaxis, and head lice. Each course ended with an assessment of content mastery. Professional development credit was included as a training incentive for all teachers and administrative staff. Courses were developed using the JCPS learning management system (Angel Suite) which supports programmatic evaluation and monitoring of individual participants. Course content was also incorporated into a Microsoft Powerpoint form for individual classroom training use and broader impact.