Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Committee Chair

Vickie Walker

Abstract

Asthma is a disease of the respiratory system, which causes swelling and narrowing of the airways. Asthma is commonly seen in children. It is the leading cause of hospital stays and school absences. Hospitalization accounts for the single largest portion of the direct health care costs for asthma, estimated at nearly $18 billion a year (Everage, et al, 2010). Children with asthma may be able to breathe normally most of the time but when they encounter a substance that can cause problems (a "trigger"); an asthma attack (exacerbation) can occur (PubMed Health, 2011). The purpose of this study is to show evidence that asthma action plans and parent education can reduce emergency room visits. Also this study will explore if the parents are using these asthma action plans provided by their medical provider prior to going to the emergency room. A survey for emergency room utilization related to poorly controlled asthma in pediatric patients was used in this research study. The participants were parents of asthmatic children in a health care clinic.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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