Epilepsy CurrentsThe ECHO Was Heard Throughout the School

Could the ECHO telementoring program become a standard component of epilepsy education for school nurses, thereby enhancing their management of student epilepsy on a national scale?

The Epilepsy Foundation’s education program for school nurses, which utilized the ECHO model for delivery, has demonstrated a significant improvement in the knowledge and confidence of participating nurses in managing epilepsy in students. These findings suggest the potential for nationwide linkage and education between epilepsy specialists, providers, and school nurses through the telementoring platform.

Key Points:

• The project aimed to assess the feasibility of adapting the Epilepsy Foundation’s (EFs) school nurse education program to the ECHO model, with an evaluation of its impact on school nurse knowledge and self-efficacy in managing epilepsy.
• The project involved 166 school nurses from 13 states, most with >15 years of experience and from suburban or rural schools.
• Improvement in knowledge and confidence were reported across most survey items, with significant gains in self-reported knowledge and confidence in psychosocial aspects of care, comorbidities, and recognition of nonepileptic events.
• Program satisfaction was rated high by over 90% of participants.

Additional Points:

• The ECHO model connected healthcare providers with specialists and offered didactics with case-based presentations, aimed at enhancing healthcare providers’ knowledge and self-efficacy.
• Limitations include a small number of completed post-program surveys, potential influence from other educational programs, and sustainability challenges.
• Other limitations include possible non-representative sample of school nurses and lack of longitudinal follow-up to measure actual changes or improvements in epilepsy management.

Conclusion:

• Telementoring using the ECHO methodology is a feasible modality to educate and link epilepsy specialists and providers with school nurses nationwide. However, additional studies with larger sample sizes and the use of a control group are necessary to confirm the program’s effectiveness.

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Did You Know?
As of 2021, epilepsy affects approximately 6 in 1,000 students in the United States, highlighting the crucial role school nurses play in managing this condition.