title: Association between knowledge and attitudes of school nurses towards epilepsy and the risk of accidents in Greek schools.
abstract: School nurses have the ability to enhance the knowledge and tolerance of an entire community and to form more positive and sensitized attitudes to future adults. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the knowledge and attitudes of nurses and the frequency of accidents caused by epilepsy in Greek schools. Our sample consisted of 306 school nurses from all over the country. It was observed that the knowledge of school nurses on epilepsy was quite high, although there were specific aspects that raise concerns on their preparedness to respond to seizure-related emergencies, while their attitudes, although positive, still need improvement. Accidents caused by epilepsy were reported by half of the nurses, and prevention was considered of major importance. Therefore, organized continuous education programs and clear guidelines by the responsible authorities would help school nurses provide better services to students with epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Nursing, University of Athens, Greece. theotoli@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Theodora
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toli
authors.forename: Panagiota
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sourtzi
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsoumakas
authors.forename: Athena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalokerinou-Anagnostopoulou
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents; D000328:Adult; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000451:nursing*; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012573:School Nursing / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012574:Schools; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires