Rural school nurses' asthma education needs

School nurses play an important role in identifying children with asthma an d providing care during school hours. Educational programs designed to impr ove nurses' asthma knowledge and practices have concentrated on urban setti ngs. The purpose of this investigation was to determine asthma-related prac tices and educational needs of rural school nurses. A survey about asthma w as mailed to school nurses in all counties of the stare of Maryland and in Washington, D.C. Responses were compared between rural Maryland counties an d counties from the remainder of Maryland and Washington, D.C. The survey a ddressed attitudes and beliefs, function and roles, medication administrati on, and educational needs about asthma. We found that rural nurses used pea k flow meters less often to assess and monitor asthma, requested fewer refe rrals for asthma, had fewer interactions with health room assistants, and h ad reduced access to asthma educational resources. Also, they provided less asthma education in the schools than other school nurses. These results su ggest a need for comprehensive asthma educational programs in rural areas t hat are based on national guidelines, and that address the unique needs of rural school nurses. These programs should also emphasize the need for open communication between rural school nurses, health room assistants, primary care providers, and parents/caregivers.