This is a descriptive study undertaken to identify competencies and supporting knowledge and skills in informatics perceived to be necessary by nurses for nurses engaged in clinical practice. This study applied a non-experimental, descriptive research design to a quantitative survey performed through web-based technology. Based upon the foundational work of Staggers, Gassert, and Curran (2001, 2002), the goal was to substantiate with clinical nurses and their direct nurse supervisors the clinical competencies that Staggers' identified for Beginning and Experienced clinical nurses through a Delphi methodology of nursing experts. All study facility Registered Nurses received an e-mail inviting their participation. Respondents logged on to a website and completed sections applicable to their situation; that is Beginning Nurse, Experienced Nurse, or Nurse Supervisor. Reminder emails were sent at two and four weeks after the initial invitation. Respondents who accessed and completed the survey received a $5.00 food coupon redeemable at the hospital facilities. All of the knowledge, attitudes and skills identified were supported as valuable, that is, a mean score greater than neutral. Value ranged from just above neutral to strongly agree. Factor analysis generally supported categorization; however, many items did not load into the anticipated categories. Categorization is one area which deserves further study.

Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease (National Center for Health Statistics, 2004). In Hawaii, 28,600 children (9.7%) currently have asthma (State of Hawaii Department of Health, 2004). This study was designed to expand asthma awareness among freshmen students at a private high school in Hawaii through informative training sessions integrated into the mandatory Physical Education (PE) class and supportive coaching for students with asthma. Of 430 freshmen at the high school study site, 83 had asthma. A pre/posttest quasi-experimental design was utilized to assess enhanced knowledge after the intervention. Nearly 400 part-Hawaiian male and female students, aged 13-15, participated in the asthma training intervention. The study enrolled 270 students. Fifty-six students with asthma participated in the asthma coaching session. Participants with asthma were classified by national guidelines as mild intermittent to moderately severe. All participants completed the Asthma General Knowledge Questionnaire before and after a training session presented in PowerPoint format. Scores were analyzed by paired t-tests. Only students with asthma participated in small group coaching sessions utilizing a PowerPoint presentation specifically tailored for adolescents. These participants completed the Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire before the session, then again three months after the session. Scores were analyzed using paired t­ test and descriptive statistics. Asthma training significantly increased general asthma knowledge scores (p :S 0.001). Although asthma coaching improved the frequency of controller medication for 50% of the students (n=lO), the increase was not statistically significant. Self­ management improvements and quality of life scores differences were also not statistically significant. These results may be due to the small sample size and short study duration. For an adolescent population where the rate of asthma is nearly 20%, providing asthma training to the entire group was demonstrated to be an effective means of increasing asthma awareness. Asthma education offered in a peer group setting demonstrates an innovative intervention modality that is culturally and developmentally sensitive to the adolescent population. Further study is needed over a longer time period to explore avenues to improved self-management skills and enhanced quality of life for adolescents with asthma.