| School nurses can be a vital link between education and health care of the 47 million students in American schools. However, they need to receive adequate educational preparation, experience, and support. The purpose of this research study was to examine Ohio school nurses' nursing agency, nursing system, and influencing factors related to the National Association of School Nurses' (NASN) Standards of Professional School Nursing Practice.;This research study, the first to focus on the NASN standards of practice, was a descriptive correlational study of school nurses in Ohio. This study was based on Orem's theoretical framework. Nursing agency was conceptualized as knowledge, and nursing system was conceptualized as relevancy, of NASN standards of practice. Any of the 1,162 school nurses in Ohio was eligible to participate in this mail survey if he or she practiced in an Ohio school within the past two years. A response rate of 444 (38.2%) school nurses included 345 (77.7%) eligible respondents. The typical school nurse was a 51 year-old Caucasian female with 24 years of nursing experience, 12 years of public co-educational school nursing experience, and membership in NASN. She typically carried a caseload of three schools with almost 1,500 students. The majority (84%) of ineligible respondents were inactive/retired school nurses.;The factor analysis supported the four-section structure of the questionnaire, including (a) Knowledge of Professional Performance, (b) Relevancy of Professional Performance, (c) Knowledge of Standards of Care, and (d) Relevancy of Standards of Care. Influencing factors significantly related to these measures of nursing agency and nursing systems included: (a) age, (b) advanced degree, (c) years in school nursing, (d) metropolitan geographic area, (e) rural geographic area, and (f) caseload of special needs students.;Databases for school nursing are incomplete and inaccurate. Educators and school nursing leaders need to cooperate to develop methods to obtain this information for each state. Foundational data on the NASN standards of practice needs to be obtained to support the development of policies and laws, educational programs, and future research studies for school nursing. |
