title: Lessons learned: one experience with focus groups in a school setting.
abstract: Focus group research is an effective way for school nurses to gain knowledge about a diverse range of issues that children in schools may face. It is a means to gather information about perceptions, feelings, points of view, and manners of thinking from a group of individuals about a specific topic. This article overviews focus groups as a research methodology and describes an experience of using them to gain information about low-income caretakers' knowledge of childhood nutrition. Several important lessons were learned from this study. These included the need to be flexible during the research process, to be creative in recruitment strategies, to maintain open communication with all the involved parties, and to share enthusiasm for the study. Learning more about children and their families can assist school nurses in planning and implementing interventions that enhance health and school achievement.
authors.affiliation: Widener University School of Nursing, Chester, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Barbara J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: Lynn E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Kelly
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D053198:Child Nutrition Sciences / Q000193:education; D017144:Focus Groups / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009737:Nursing Records / Q000592:standards; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards; D012572:School Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D012573:School Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States