Innovative student-led system-level educational intervention to increase evidence-based asthma surveillance and management among public health nurses

Background and Issues: Asthma is a pervasive public health problem that may be undetected or undertreated in low-income high-risk families. System-level approaches are needed to address this critical issue. Public health nurses (PHNs) in family home visiting programs may be unaware of current evidence-based asthma care because routine asthma screening is not a program requirement. Evidence-based practice can be disseminated through standardized evidence-based care plans using the Omaha System. Student nurses have learned current evidence-based practice for asthma. They need experience in system-level PHN interventions and evidence-based health teaching. Description: Students worked with asthma experts to develop an evidence-based teaching presentation for practicing PHNs. The presentation introduced a standardized, evidence-based tool for the surveillance and management of asthma during family home visits. The student teaching intervention was evaluated through a post-presentation questionnaire. Lessons Learned: The public health agency and PHNs were receptive to the educational intervention, and practice changes were implemented. Student nurses can impact public health problems at a system-level through evidence-based teaching within PHN agencies. Students gained experience with system-level interventions designed to improve PHN care quality and population health. Recommendations: Student nurses should participate in disseminating evidence-based practice to PHNs. Standardized guidelines provided by the Omaha System should be developed for many important public health problems to enable such dissemination. Evidence-based asthma care plans are already available for public health agencies. They should be used to standardize practice across systems and settings and to improve the surveillance and management of asthma in the community.