Document Type
DNP Project
Department
School of Nursing
Date of Degree
Spring 2022
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Primary Advisor
Mary Jean Schumann DNP, MBA, RN, CPNP-PC, FAAN; Lynda Goodfriend, DNP, RN
Keywords
firearms, child, adolescent, infant, counseling
Abstract
Background: Every day in America children, are injured or killed from the accidental shooting of firearms. Additionally, few households with children report storing all guns unloaded and locked up. Recent evidence supports education on safe firearm storage as an effective intervention in promoting firearm safety in families with children. However, Pediatric healthcare providers often do not have enough time for firearm education during well visits.
Objective: This Quality Improvement (QI) project aimed to use an educational intervention with statistics on firearms in children and implemented the Asking Saves Kids (ASK) campaign to assess and improve firearm safety behaviors in families with children less than 7 years of age at a preschool in Virginia.
Methods: This QI project measured, monitored and evaluated the impact of an educational intervention to improve firearm safety behaviors in families using a pretest/posttest design. Participants completed a demographic survey and the ASK questionnaire to rate their firearm safety behaviors. Baseline data at pretest and 4-6 weeks post intervention were evaluated using McNemar’s test to evaluate changes over time within categorical outcome variables related to firearm safety behaviors.
Results: 36 participants completed both the pretest and posttest1. McNemar’s test was not statistically significant for any project aims. However, in evaluating all families throughout the project, 12.7% responded with a self-reported change in firearm safety behaviors from baseline. Qualitative data from families who did not ask were also evaluated and grouped into themes.
Conclusion: This pilot project is cost free, effective, and extends the reach of the ASK questionnaire into the community while instilling a heightened awareness of the dangers that unsafely stored firearms pose to children. Additional studies are recommended.
Copyright Notice
©2022 Elizabeth G. Choma. All rights reserved.
Recommended Citation
Choma, E. G. (2022). A Community Educational Intervention to Improve Firearm Safety Behavior in Families. , (). Retrieved from https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/son_dnp/106
Open Access
1
