261958 ESchoolCare project: School nurses improving care for children with chronic illness

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 12:45 PM - 1:00 PM

Lori Anderson, PhD, RN, CPNP , School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI
School-age youth increasingly bring a variety of health-related needs into classrooms. The extent to which these needs are met has implications for children and families. The school nurse is the primary professional in the educational setting providing care for students with chronic conditions. eSchoolCare is an innovative iPad-based educational program providing on-the-go support for rural school nurses who care for children with chronic health conditions. The 3-year project is funded by a grant from the US Health Resources and Services Administration. The eSchoolCare program provides step-by-step guidance for nurses on delivering care for common chronic conditions in schools on an anytime-anywhere basis. The materials include videos, photographs, and links to journal articles and online resources. Five chronic pediatric conditions are covered: (1) asthma, (2) diabetes, (3) allergy, (4) cancer, and (5) mental health disorders. School nurses identified these frequently encountered conditions as those for which they were interested in further training. The materials were developed in partnership with advanced practice nurses at a local children's hospital, based on established guidelines, and reviewed by a panel consisting of a physician, an advanced practice nurse, a school nurse, and a special education specialist. eSchoolCare will affect as many as 34,000 children with chronic conditions by serving about 90 school nurses practicing in rural areas. Baseline evaluation data, including nurse/school demographics, satisfaction, knowledge, skill, and confidence, among others, will be collected prior to enrollment and annually thereafter. This model has the potential to be successful in other rural or remote areas nationally.

Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and prevention
Public health or related nursing

Learning Objectives:
1. Discuss how the eSchoolCare iPad application can be used to enhance child health in a school setting.

Keywords: Chronic Illness, School Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a former school nurse who is currently PhD prepared faculty at a school of nursing at a research-intensive university. My research focus is school nursing care of children with special health care needs, care of the special needs child in school settings, family adaptation, and care coordination between the school, home and health care settings. I have presented at both regional and national professional conferences and have numerous publications in peer reviewed journals.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.