Abstract

Even though a school nurse is often seen as just the person who gives students bandaids and ice for scraped knees, their role encompasses much more, including mental health. However, school nurses may not be receiving an adequate amount of mental health education to be prepared for their role. The purpose of this research was to describe Kentucky School Nurses' views on mental health, identify nurses’ methods of mental health continuing education, and identify their mental health training needs. These factors were explored by an email survey distributed through the Kentucky School Nurse Association. The results indicated that the majority of the Kentucky school nurses felt that mental health training was important for their role as a school nurse and that more emphasis on mental health training was needed. The most common methods of mental health education were found to be: formal education, professional school nurse meetings, and school district trainings. Such areas as Anxiety Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Depression were the most commonly identified mental health topics for which school nurses indicated they would benefit from additional training.

Semester/Year of Award

Fall 12-10-2018

Mentor

Erin K. Eliassen

Mentor Professional Affiliation

Family and Consumer Sciences

Access Options

Restricted Access Thesis

Document Type

Bachelor Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Scholars

Degree Level

Bachelor's

Department

Nursing

Department Name when Degree Awarded

Baccalaureate and Graduate Nursing

IRB Approval Number (if applicable)

1719

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