RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Evaluation of an Asthma Education Program for School Nurses JF Respiratory Care FD American Association for Respiratory Care SP 3442298 VO 65 IS Suppl 10 A1 Kristin Hines A1 Kimberly Cobb A1 Denise Willis YR 2020 UL http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/65/Suppl_10/3442298.abstract AB Background: School nurses are uniquely positioned to provide direct care, adherence counseling and education for children with asthma.1 However, standardized asthma education for Arkansas school nurses does not exist. Pediatric health systems that provide patient-centered care have a unique obligation to recognize and support school nurses as an important part of the health care team and provide education and resources to bolster their knowledge base and ability to managing asthma in the school setting.1 This study evaluated the effectiveness of an education program for nurses created to increase comfort with managing asthma in a school-based setting. Methods: An asthma education program was developed and implemented in the Arkansas School Nurse Academy program. The program included both didactic and hands-on education for routine asthma management including social determinants of health, asthma triggers/avoidance strategies, inhaler technique, and utilization of the asthma action plan for treatment of acute asthma. Education content was prepared using best practice guidelines from both the Global Initiative for Asthma Management and the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program. Participants were asked to complete a pre and post survey for overall evaluation of the program. The evaluation included 5 asthma related questions regarding comfort for addressing social determinants of health that influence adherence, education of triggers and avoidance strategies, inhaler technique, use of an asthma action plan, and seeking asthma resources. Responses were based on a 5-point Likert scale for comfort with each topic. Strongly agree and agree responses were combined to evaluate change from pre to post survey. The asthma specific questions were analyzed separately using the Wilcoxon signed-ranks test. Results: There were 194 participants in the study. Respondents reported an increase in comfort from pre to post survey for each question. This increase was statistically significant for addressing social determinants (P = .003), use of an asthma action plan (P = .001) and seeking resources (P = .002). Conclusions: An asthma education program for school-based nurses, utilizing both didactic and hands-on skills demonstration, led to improved comfort level in managing asthma. Reference 1. Lemanske RF, Kakumanu S, Shanovich K, Antos N, Cloutier MM, Mazyck D, et al. Creation and implementation of SAMPROTM: A school-based asthma management program. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2016;138(3):711-723.