How To Manage Asthma At School: A Guide For Parents

Asthma is the biggest chronic disease-related school absence. When parents and school authorities address asthma risk factors, kids will miss fewer days of school. School asthma management requires a healthy atmosphere.

Do Schools Need An Asthma Policy?

School nurses and staff require asthma policies and programs. It includes:

• Asthma school training
• School asthma education
• Efficient asthma management

To promote student health, an asthma management strategy should eliminate asthma triggers. Allergy & Asthma Network provides school safety tools and professional resources.

Asthma Management & School Health Services

To satisfy their health requirements, asthmatic pupils must be identified quickly. Schools should consider environmental health. To make schools asthma-friendly, they should implement preventative initiatives.

How Do Schools Deal With Asthma?

School asthma management policy should be solid. Asthma programs should help pupils who already have asthma and those who develop it at school. Policies should address students, school programs, and settings, medicated, documented, and stored.

Identifying employees authorized to provide the medicine a planned emergency response education, training, and notification, including asthma information for instructors a school district communication strategy.

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Asthma care should be included in a district or school protocol. Emergency, medicine, and albuterol routines are crucial.

RELATED: Your Children & Asthma: 4 Things They Must Know

A Simple Protocol

To treat asthma and guide care, children benefit from a regimen. Establish a pharmaceutical system for maintenance and emergencies. As required, meet with parents to establish confidence and obtain:

• Medication instructions
• Fast-acting inhalers
• Managing Asthma
• Communicate student health needs to instructors, school nurses, and staff.
• As required, educate workers about asthma.
• All personnel should review asthma symptoms and post them in classrooms.

Asthma Management Program During The School Year

• Touch base with students with asthma to discuss the management of their health condition at school.
  • Assess their ability for self-care and self-medication.
• Obtain medications, medication orders, and Asthma Action Plan if not previously completed.
• Track expiration dates for medications.
• Write an Individualized Healthcare Plan.
• Develop a written Emergency Care Plan as needed with family and student input.

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What should the school or school nurse do at the end of the school year?

When a parent or guardian picks up medication stored at school:

• Return unused medication.
• Provide medication forms.
• Request personal Asthma Action Plan to be completed for the next school year.
• Remind the parent to make an appointment with the doctor to get a health update and forms completed. Doctor’s offices can get VERY BUSY close to the start of school.
• Discuss progress made in self-management at home and school.

Asthma Training & Education For Schools

School employees should know the following about asthma and asthma care:

• asthma signs and symptoms
• common risk factors and asthma triggers
• how to prevent asthma flares
• never send a child to the School Health Office alone
• what are the signs and symptoms of an emergency
• how to respond to an asthma emergency
• needed medication, such as a quick-relief inhaler
• how to administer the medication
• how to access emergency medical services as needed (911)
• how to manage activities, environmental triggers, and use daily air quality information

Consider using multiple teaching approaches to educate staff. Teaching methods may include:

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• group educational session at a faculty meeting
• small group approaches during a team meeting
• individual sessions for teachers who are responsible for students with severe asthma.

Reinforce the teaching through faculty newsletters, reading materials in the faculty room, and individual notes or emails.

RELATED: How To Protect Your Child From Common Asthma Triggers

What Asthma Action Plan Should Be Used At School?

Allergy & Asthma Network recommends the School Asthma Management Program (SAMPRO) Asthma Action Plans and resources. The SAMPRO resources were developed with multiple stakeholders under the direction of the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology (AAAAI) and the National Association of School Nurses (NASN).

The student’s healthcare provider should complete the Asthma Action Plan. It is based on the provider’s assessment and medical orders.

Asthma Action Plans usually provide the child and family with steps to follow depending on their current symptoms:

• Green Zone – daily care when symptoms are under control
• Yellow Zone – actions to take when a student is beginning to experience an asthma attack
• Red Zone – steps to follow when asthma becomes an emergency