Child Anxiety Learning Modules (CALM): A Manual for School Nurses Nurse's Guide

Excessive anxiety among elementary age students is common, yet less than half of children with anxiety receive the services they need to succeed in school. This service gap could be filled by expanding the network of providers who can assist students with anxiety. Because physical symptoms, such as headaches and stomachaches, are a hallmark feature of excessive anxiety, school nurses are often the first school-based personnel to identify a student with anxiety who needs support. Child Anxiety Learning Modules (CALM) provides a brief and practical program to help students struggling with anxiety. Based on cognitive behavioral strategies that are effective in reducing anxiety, the CALM program was developed by the authors for elementary school nurses and is designed to be delivered to individual students in five 20-30 minute meetings with an additional optional parent meeting. This manual provides a step-by-step guide to carry out the CALM program, including detailed instructions on how to teach anxiety reduction strategies, sample scripts, and student-friendly handouts to be used during each meeting. As a comprehensive book, it will provide school nurses with the foundational information and strategies they need to assist students with anxiety in an integrated, organized, consumable format.