Authors (including presenting author) :
Kwok KL(1), Lee SH(1), Wong KW(1), Fung SS(1), Wan HYS(1), Wong LY(1)
Affiliation :
(1)Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Queen Mary Hospital
Introduction :
Patients in CTS ICU often require Intra-hospital transport (IHT) for operations, diagnostic imaging and therapeutic interventions. IHT poses significant risks for adverse events to critically-ill patients, e.g. accidental extubation or catheter dislodgement. Equipping staff with knowledge, skills and experience are fundamental to prevent and manage IHT associated adverse events. In view of the identified service gap, conducting an enhancement programme for CTS ICU nurses on IHT is crucial and indispensable.
Objectives :
- To enhance knowledge, skills and competence of nursing staff in handling IHT event
- To reinforce the compliance with transport checklist and documentation in IHT event
Methodology :
The IHT enhancement programme consists of a compulsory educational lecture and an interactive simulation training session. 7 scenarios of IHT simulation training were created in April 2024. To complement the fidelity of simulation training session, iSimulator was adopted to mimic the instantaneous changes of vital signs during the course of scenario event. 6 identical lectures on IHT were conducted in July 2024 with small groups learning approach. The simulation training session on IHT was conducted in August 2024. Pre and Post-written assessments and staff survey on IHT were deployed for program evaluation and result analysis.
Result & Outcome :
Among the 20 nurses who attended didactic session, 4 of them also underwent simulation training session. In aspect of knowledge assessment, overall mean score of written assessment improved from 5.7 to 8.3 out of 10. For nurses who attended both didactic and simulation sessions, mean score significantly increased from 53.8% to 90%. According to pre-post staff survey by 5-point Likert Scale (i.e. 1 = Strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree), participants reported that they became more familiar with IHT associated adverse events and corresponding emergency management with mean score increment from 3.3 to 4.45 out of 5. Furthermore, they believed that the implementation of IHT checklist could facilitate preparation and documentation of transport events, with a score from 3.8 to 4.6 out of 5.
This programme fostered our CTS ICU nurses’ confidence and knowledge in managing IHT events. Moreover, the efficacy of implementing the transport checklist to reinforce quality and safety of IHT events was demonstrated by this programme. To sustain this programme, integration of mechanical circulatory support devices in the curriculum of transport training is strongly recommended.
