Perceptions of school nurses and teachers of fatigue in children

The aim of this study was to elicit school nurses' and teachers' perceptions of fatigue in school settings. Fatigue was defined as tiredness, not relieved by usual sleep or rest; a symptom that persists beyond an isolated experience of feeling tired. Four focus groups were conducted to elicit data for this qualitative descriptive study. Purposive sampling was used to identify school nurse and teacher participants who were asked to discuss their perceptions of fatigue. Content analysis of verbatim transcripts yielded several major themes. Forty-six codes emerged from the data and were routinely applied during the analysis. Nineteen of these codes were used 20 times or more and applied to all four transcripts. Participants could clearly identify and readily discuss behaviors related to fatigue. Data describe how children attending school express fatigue in their everyday life. Findings validate the need for nurses in ambulatory pediatric settings to be aware of fatigue as a symptom that children and adolescents may experience.