Targeted Education for School Staff on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems : A Nurse Led Intervention

Abstract

There is a public health epidemic in adolescents’ use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), also known as electronic cigarettes, vaping products, or JUULs. However, little is known about the level of knowledge school staff have about ENDS. The purpose of this study is to identify knowledge strengths and deficits held by school staff about ENDS and examine the effectiveness of this nurse-led intervention. A descriptive, non-randomly selected pre-test/post-test design was used with 125 Wisconsin school staff. Results revealed further educational needs of school staff in areas of advertising trickery that entices youth, including the multiple flavors of ENDS products. Following the educational intervention, post-test results showed a significant overall improvement in participant knowledge scores. Recommendations include implementing nurse-led education about ENDS to a more diverse population of school staff. Providing nurse-led ENDS education to school staff offers an upstream, proactive approach to address this public health epidemic.