Water Safety Education for Drowning in Children 1–14 at a Family Practice Primary Care Office

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to enhance caregiver knowledge and confidence in water safety practices by providing a structured water safety educational session, which included a water safety pamphlet, to willing participants. This project also aimed to identify perceived barriers to implementing safety practices and measure the overall impact of the educational intervention on caregiver intentions and behaviors regarding water safety. Existing literature highlights that caregiver education is critical to improving knowledge and significantly reducing water-related risks. This project aimed to significantly reduce the likelihood of these devastating incidents by providing structured, evidence-based educational sessions to caregivers. Methods: This quality improvement project used the IHI Model for Improvement and the PDSA cycle to evaluate structured water safety education for caregivers of children aged one to 14 years. Pre- and post-surveys were utilized to evaluate the impact of a structured educational intervention informed by AAP and CDC guidelines. Results: In this DNP project, 16 participants were included in the final evaluation of results. One key insight stood out, which was that most barriers, including fear, cost, access, and lack of information, were highly modifiable through education. However, time remained a persistent barrier. The number of caregivers reporting high confidence doubled. Importantly, every caregiver indicated the intent to adopt at least one new water safety practice at home. Conclusions: This DNP project evaluated the implementation of an evidence-based intervention designed to enhance caregiver knowledge, confidence, and adoption of water safety practices through a structured educational session delivered in a primary care office in Arizona. Results showed that caregiver education improved knowledge, confidence, and safety practice adoption while reducing barriers. These findings suggest many barriers are modifiable through targeted education and supports previous evidence and research on water safety education for caregivers as an effective drowning prevention strategy.