Perception and needs in health education curriculum among school nurses as health teachers in Korea

The study investigated perceived effectiveness and perceived barriers to health education curriculum targeting school nurses as health teachers in Korea. A total of 741 health teachers participated. The questionnaire included perceived effectiveness and perceived barriers to health education curriculum, future roles of health teachers, and needs for in-service training programs. The most frequently selected perceived barrier was a lack of personnel to serve in the health clinic when the nurse was teaching, although 60.9-61.7% wanted to continue both duties of health education and school health services. Perceived effectiveness of health education was positively associated with duration of teaching career (p < .05). Elementary school health teachers had higher perceived effectiveness than those in middle and high schools, while those with bachelor's degrees had lower perceived effectiveness than those with master's degrees (p < .05). In-service training and efforts to decrease the perceived barriers would help to offer effective health education.