RESUMEN

Over the past 25 years, the roles of school nurses have been both expanding and specializing in public and non-public school settings. To help meet the ever-changing and demanding challenges that specialized school nurses encounter in their unique settings, NASN embraced the idea that school nurses need a way to connect with colleagues working in similar practices. Thus, special interest groups (SIGs) were established, and the SIGs have become an integral part of NASN.

Asunto(s)

Relaciones Interprofesionales , Enfermeras Especialistas , Servicios de Enfermería Escolar , Niño , Humanos , Sociedades de Enfermería , Estados Unidos

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Listen Protect Connect (LPC), a school-based program of Psychological First Aid delivered by non-mental health professionals, is intended to support trauma-exposed children. Our objective was to implement LPC in a school setting and assess the effectiveness of LPC on improving psychosocial outcomes associated with trauma. METHODS: A pilot quasi-experiment was conducted with middle school children self-identified or referred to the school nurse as potentially exposed to stressful life experiences. LPC was provided to students by the school nurse, and questionnaires were administered at baseline, 2-, 4- and 8-weeks to assess life stressors, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, social support, and school connectedness. A total of 71 measurements were collected from 20 children in all. Although a small sample size, multiple measurements allowed for multivariable mixed effects models to analyze changes in the repeated outcomes over time. RESULTS: Students who received the intervention had reduced depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms from baseline throughout follow-up period. Total social support also increased significantly from baseline through 8-weeks, and school connectedness increased up to 4-weeks post-intervention. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the potential of LPC as a school-based intervention of Psychological First Aid. Future randomized trials of LPC are needed, however.