Information Needs Assessment for K-12 School Nurses in Rural Eastern Washington State

Abstract

School nurses are an often-overlooked population of health care professionals who have great importance in rural communities where access to health care is limited. In order to better serve school nurses in rural eastern Washington, an assessment was conducted to determine their information needs, behaviors, and perceptions. Results indicated this population of school nurses searches for multiple types of health information on a daily basis and navigates obstacles to information access using a variety of resources. While largely confident in their searching ability, they are open to learning more about how to find reliable health information to support their daily responsibilities. These results will guide the development of a workshop for school nurses about using reliable health information resources to improve health care in their rural communities.

Knowing What We Don’t Know: A Survey of School Nurse Information Needs

“…Additionally, the expectation that required professional development activities be conducted during personal time has the potential to breed resentment and contribute to burnout (Coventry et al, 2015). Thankfully, school nurses are resourceful and declare interest in attending workshops to improve their skills (Vela, 2017).…”