Kimcuong Thi Lu

Implementation of a Screening Tool for School Nurses to Recognize Possible Child Abuse

Background: Child abuse is a national public health problem and there has been an increase in child abuse and neglect cases in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Screening tools can help health care professionals identify child abuse. An effective screening tool such as Escape can equip school nurses with a sharper eye to detect child abuse and neglect in the vulnerable population they serve.

Methods: The Escape screening tool was implemented for 30 school days from August 29, 2022 through October 7, 2022. The data collected from the pretests and post-tests were then analyzed for statistical significance using the chi-squared test.

Intervention: School nurses were trained in the use of the Escape screening tool and the number of times the tool was used was tracked by the individual school nurses on paper. A pretest and a post-test were administered to each participating nurse during two nursing department meetings, one before the training and one following it to measure the nurses’ confidence in recognizing child abuse and neglect. Their answers were provided on a 7-point Likert scale. The project leader recorded all data on an Excel spreadsheet and analyzed with the chi-squared test. Results: Data collected from the pre-tests and post-tests were similar, and no statistically significant differences were noted in nurses’ confidence in recognizing abuse and neglect before and after training in the Escape screening tool. Discussion: Nurse participants were supportive of the Escape tool and agreed that it should be incorporated into the nursing standard-of-care protocol in the district. Future studies of the Escape tool are needed in other settings that involve the care of children. 

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