SCHOOLS NEED EPILEPSY EDUCATION

Dec 05, 2000 (Reuters)

School nurses play a crucial role in caring for children with epilepsy, however, 80% say their school staff needs training in seizure recognition and first aid. Ann Marie K. Bezuyen and colleagues from the Epilepsy Foundation of Southern New York in Pearl River, surveyed nurses from 764 schools in New York State regarding their knowledge of the management of epileptic students. The nurses who responded--110 from 136 different schools--were caring for 440 students with epilepsy. While 92% of the reporting schools had implemented emergency plans, the most pressing need, identified by 80% of the school nurses, was training in first aid and in recognizing seizures. "The survey grew out of a recognition of how much support teachers need. Teachers are expected to manage many diseases, but they receive little training," Bezuyen said in an interview with Reuters Health at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society. The nurses also felt that their schools needed "current, understandable epilepsy literature and teaching aids, school staff and fellow student education, increased communication with private physicians, better classroom guidelines, parental involvement, and instruction in mainstream educational support and maintenance," the Foundation reports. "As a result of the survey, we have established relationships with 100 schools, and we have already provided the desired training in about a third of those schools," Bezuyen said.