School Nurses & Health Aides:
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During an asthma episode a student may be panicked and the school nurse needs to be equipped to handle even the most severe symptoms. It is important to have accurate and easily accessible medical records of all students with asthma. Due to the shortage of school nurses, schools are beginning to employ health aides. School nurses must be sure that health aides know what to do in the event a student has a severe asthma “attack.”
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Notify parents or guardians whenever a student has asthma symptoms. Record in the student’s medical file each time they come to the nurse’s office with asthma symptoms. Record the student’s whereabouts and activities when symptoms began. Try to pinpoint the trigger that caused the symptoms. Recommend to the student to receive follow-up care from their physician.
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Require an asthma action plan from each student with asthma. Every plan should contain emergency contact numbers, peak flow readings, rescue medications, warning signs of an episode, action steps to take during an episode, and environmental triggers. IDEM has created an Asthma Action Plan that includes all of these elements. The patient’s physician should sign and date the plan. Update annually. There are many different forms of asthma action plans. Be sure you and your staff know how to read each plan.
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Provide students with asthma trigger information. If the student knows their asthma triggers, provide information about each of their known triggers. IDEM has created an evidence-based list of asthma triggers and fact sheets for each of them. For a quick-reference, provide IDEM’s Top 10 Ways to Reduce Asthma Triggers at Home. Environmental alterations must occur for each of the student’s triggers.
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Open the lines of communication. Confer with teachers, maintenance personnel and/or administrators about reducing identified environmental triggers throughout the school . Visit the School section of Breatheasyville for more information about asthma triggers found in school buildings.
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Get additional information if necessary. The American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology has developed a School Nurse Tool Kit. This is a medical guide that provides asthma education for you and/or your health aid. Refer to the Environmental Protection Agency’s IAQ Tools for Schools - Managing Asthma in the School Environment.
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Provide smoking cessation education for students when necessary. Active/passive smoking is the most important irritant trigger. Encourage students not to smoke. Visit the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation for information.