Date of Award

Winter 2025

Project Type

Clinical Doctorate

College or School

CHHS

Department

DNP

Program or Major

DNP

First Advisor

Cathleen Colleran, DNP, RN, CNE

Second Advisor

Erin Maguire, MEd

Third Advisor

Kathleen Tennent, DNP, RN

Abstract

Background: Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening allergic reaction that requires early recognition and administration of intramuscular epinephrine. In the elementary school setting, non-licensed personnel are often the first staff to identify this, making training and preparedness essential. This quality improvement project aims to enhance school personnel knowledge, confidence, and competence in recognizing and managing anaphylaxis through a standardized educational training series.

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project aimed to increase the knowledge, confidence, and competence of non-licensed personnel in managing and responding to anaphylaxis in the school setting. Participants accessed the educational module and hands-on training interventions through a scheduled training in-service with return demonstration for skill competency assessment. The goals of this project included improving the knowledge and skill retention to identify and respond effectively to anaphylaxis.

Methods: A pre- and post-intervention design was used. Participants completed asynchronous online training and hands-on EpiPen demonstration. Surveys measured changes in knowledge and confidence, while a validated six-step skills checklist assessed procedural competence. Independent-samples t-tests were used to analyze group differences. The intervention included a 20-minute asynchronous PowerPoint module on anaphylaxis recognition and a guided hands-on epinephrine auto-injector training. Competence was assessed immediately and again at four weeks post-intervention.

Results: Over a 5-week intervention period, the educational intervention demonstrated improvement in confidence and knowledge scores increased significantly from pre- to post-intervention. Skills competence improved from pre-intervention to post-intervention and was retained at four weeks. Findings demonstrated both statistical and clinical significance in outcomes.

Conclusion: The combined asynchronous education and hands-on training effectively improved non-licensed personnel's ability to recognize and respond to anaphylaxis. Standardized education models such as this can be valuable across school districts to improve safety, readiness, and adherence to evidence-based emergency allergy management practices.

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