Lee University School of Nursing students and faculty recently created a teaching project to educate elementary-aged students and their parents on asthma management. The project was selected to be featured in the Tennessee Nurses Association (TNA) Conference held in Franklin, Tennessee in October.

“It was our honor for our abstract, and thus our poster, to be chosen and to be seen by hundreds of nurses throughout Tennessee who attended the conference,” says Amy Blake, associate lecturer in nursing at Lee.

Led by Blake, students developed the Asthma Teaching Project, a presentation that will be given to third and fourth graders in local elementary schools.

“There is an education gap in students with asthma that translates to poor disease control,” says Blake. “Our project is designed to educate students on the definition, signs and symptoms, and triggers of asthma and to increase the self-efficacy of asthma management in students and families regarding knowledge of asthma, medications, and proper medication administration technique.”

In the classroom, the students will use games, videos, and demonstrations to help deliver the content. The children will be given an education pamphlet, using the same language as the teaching, to take home to their families to encourage the behaviors that were discussed in the classroom.

Nursing students that worked on the Asthma Teaching Project include Lydia Bradley, Andy Bull, Alberto Dominguez, Jalyn Poynter, Alyssa Raffa, and Zoe Riggins.

“As a student nurse, it was an honor to apply our critical thinking skills and passion for quality patient care outside of the classroom setting,” said Poynter. “With the content of our project, we also got the opportunity to empower young people to take ownership of their health and thrive despite difficult health challenges. Every patient deserves optimal health outcomes; to influence that, even in the smallest way with our project, is humbling.”

For more information about the presentation or Lee’s School of Nursing, visit www.leeuniversity.edu/academics/nursing/.