Study of teachers finds low levels of confidence and competence in giving adrenaline

A study of 61 Irish primary school teachers published in the European Journal of Pediatrics this April has found low levels of competence and confidence in adrenaline auto-injector (AAIs) use.

School teachers as well as other populations including healthcare professionals, patients, carers and school staff are often not fully prepared to use AAS, which can cause delays in treatment when it’s needed.

This study aimed to assess the competence of primary school teachers in the Republic of Ireland in giving adrenaline, which involves four steps, and their self-reported confidence. The researchers also looked at whether confidence and competence were linked.

Four schools were included in the study. They completed questionnaires about their experience, training and confidence with using AAIs, then they were observed using trainer AAIs on a mannequin.

The results showed:

• the mean self-reported confidence was 1.82 out of 5
• whether the teachers were trained or not didn’t affect their confidence
• teachers who had received training performed more of the steps correctly when using AAIs
• there was no correlation between confidence and percentage of steps performed correctly.

The authors concluded that improvements can be achieved by applying more effective approaches to teaching clinical skills, changes to school policies and practices, and consideration of the design of AAIs to make them simpler and safer to use. It is important that teachers have the competence and confidence to use AAIs.

Read the paper in the European Journal of Pediatrics