Date of Award

Spring 2026

Project Type

Clinical Doctorate

College or School

CHHS

Department

School of Nursing

Degree Name

Other

First Advisor

Cathleen Colleran

Second Advisor

April Phelps

Third Advisor

Aaron Cinquemani

Abstract

Background: Chronic absenteeism and school avoidance are a problem facing schools across the nation following the COVID-19 pandemic. Chronic absenteeism is financially, emotionally, and academically expensive for society. Purpose: This quality improvement project aimed to decrease absences by 50% over a 6-week timeframe when compared to the same timeframe from the previous year. Methods: Utilizing a Plan-Do-Study-Act framework, an intervention based on tracking multi-day consecutive absences and reaching out to families to provide education and support was implemented. At three days of absence, the school nurse would either call the family for absence with unknown etiology or email with an infographic for a known illness. If there was another reason listed for the absence, the school nurse would personalize outreach. Results: While there was a reduction in absences compared with the previous year for the same time frame, there was not a statistically significant reduction in the number of absences. Feedback from families and staff was positive and there were obvious trends in absences that warrant further review. Conclusion: Early outreach to families following a structured PDSA framework has value and feedback from families and staff support continuing this work over a longer time frame. Relationship building in situations of chronic absenteeism helps to create trust which can lead to earlier medical intervention as well as better support of families.

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