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Family-centered service is a service delivery model that recognizes the central role of families, builds on their strengths, and seeks to fully involve them in all aspects of their child's health, learning, and development. Family-centered service has been associated with positive outcomes in health and education and has been viewed as best practice. This study examined school nurses' perceptions of their work practices with families and the implementation of family-centered services in the school health setting. An established instrument, the Measure of Processes of Care for Service Providers, was used to survey a convenience sample of school nurses practicing in California. Quantitative and qualitative results indicated that school nurses value family-centered service and use the core elements regularly in their work with families. Qualitative data further illustrated school nurses' solid commitment to families even in the face of challenges such as high student-nurse ratios, lack of time, and limited support. Suggestions for overcoming these barriers include development of parent centers, employment of school social workers/case managers, and advocating for changes in legislation to support the hiring of more school nurses. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study evaluated a training program designed to prepare unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) in high school settings to recognize and respond effectively to an anaphylactic emergency. Subjects included 53 adults employed by a high school district in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. A training model was developed based on Bandura's theory of sources of self-efficacy. Knowledge and perceived self-efficacy of participants were measured before and after the training program to determine if a theory-based anaphylaxis recognition and epinephrine auto-injector training program would increase participants' knowledge and self-efficacy in responding to an anaphylactic emergency. Paired "t" tests revealed significant improvement in scores for both knowledge and perceived self-efficacy following the intervention (p less than 0.001). This theory-based training program offers a valuable model for other school nurses in providing knowledge and skill training for unlicensed assistive personnel in other health emergencies. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)