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

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.