| Learning Objective #1: Analyze the structure, function and outcomes of an evidence-based, comprehensive school health education program | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Evaluate the impact of innovative nurse-managed evidence-based practice within the context of community partnerships for underserved populations |
Objectives: This presentation describes the structure, function and selected outcomes from an evidence-based, comprehensive school health education program and evaluate the impact of nurse-managed evidence-based community partnerships for underserved populations.
Design: This project uses a longitudinal, pre-post test design.
Population: The Good Samaritan Nursing Center (GSNC) includes nurse-managed clinics in three elementary schools. These schools have high proportions of low income and uninsured children. Each school has higher proportions of African-American and Hispanic children than the county as a whole.
Concept: This presentation focuses on the comprehensive health education component of the clinics.
Methods: BSN-prepared community nursing interns design comprehensive health education using recommendations from AHRQ and the research literature. Teaching strategies use research on the health belief and transtheoretical models of behavior change. Health topics are based on the primary causes of preventable illness, injury and mortality in elementary school-age children. Health information is provided in classrooms, through newsletters, CD-ROMs, games, health fairs and contests. The health education program uses a partnership with the schools. Because the local school system has focused on educational improvement since the passage of landmark education legislation in 1990, GSNC staff designed health education initiatives to be consistent with educational programming needs.
Findings: Over 40,000 individual client contacts were made in three years with students, teachers and parents. Participants’ self-rated knowledge increased following implementation of the health education programming.
Scores on the Practical Living sections of the statewide tests have increased substantially (from 9% to 15%) in these three schools since the health education programming was incorporated.
Conclusions: These programs provide underserved children with evidence-based health information and help the schools raise their test scores.
Implications: These programs illustrate a novel approach by BSN nurses to incorporate evidence-based practice in elementary schools and the partnership methodology has relevance for developed and developing countries.
Back to Innovation Using Evidence-Based Practice
Back to International Evidence-Based Practice Preconference
Sigma Theta Tau International
9 July 2003