Educational project dedicated to school teachers for the correct management of Epileptic Seizures in school-age children

<p>Andrea Giuffrida, Renzetti Tommaso, Fabio Antonucci and Ilaria Pannacci</p>

Educational project dedicated to school teachers for the correct management of Epileptic Seizures in school-age children

Andrea Giuffrida, Renzetti Tommaso, Fabio Antonucci and Ilaria Pannacci

Bambino Gesu Childrens Hospital, Rome, Italy

: J Nurs Patient Care

Abstract

Aim of this presentation is to discuss an educational project regarding the correct management of epileptic seizures in children and adolescent in school environment. The project included 610 teachers from over 100 educational institutes of primary and secondary school in the city of Rome and in the entire region. In the project have been done an educational/ information program and a pilot study, still in progress, in which we asked teachers to answer to questionnaires before and after the training session. The nursing staff of Neurology and Neurosurgery Units of Department of Neuroscience of the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital conducted all the activities related to the project. To reach the main objectives have been used slide show, practical examples and ad hoc videos filmed by nurses and physicians. The background of this study comes from scientific literature analysis, from families demanding training of school‘s staff, and from the evidence of repeated incongruous admissions to hospital for epileptic seizures of children who experienced seizures during school time. Data coming form literature reveal that – despite the knowledge of epilepsy is quite widespread - nowadays is still difficult to properly train the school’s staff for the management of seizures. These difficulties are also due to the emotional involvement that prevents the rescuers to a correct conduct. The scientific evidences, have shown that 80% of the seizures lasting more than 5 minutes lead to the “status epilepticus”, resulting in hospitalization and patient intensive care treatment. Epileptic seizures might be stopped troughs the administration of rescue drugs within five minutes after the beginning of the seizures. However, this requires training, awareness and education in order to administer rescue drugs in the school environment, where patients spend most of their daytime. In Italy there are not laws that allow teachers to administer drugs, so there is not an empowerment but useless appeal to the emergency team. This often causes incongruous hospital admissions for seizures that might be stopped pharmacologically, and discomfort for patients and family members. The advent of easy-to-use drugs trough oro-mucosal administration has changed the approach to acute seizure management, but still there is a strong resistance of teaching and support staff in the schools.