2006 OPEN FORUM Abstracts
COMPARISON AND EVALUATION OF RESPIRATORY CARE STAFF COMPETENCY FOLLOWING PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT CHANGES
Stanley
Baldwin, MBA, RCP, RRT, Alan Alipoon, BS, RCP, RRT, Robert Roy, RCP, RRT, Michael
H. Terry, RCP, RRT, Leo Langga, BS, RCP, RRT-NPS, Michael Lum, BS, RCP, RRT.
Loma
Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, California.
Background: The 2004 annual
respiratory care staff competency testing required 16 hours of combined
didactic and return demonstration of patient technical procedures. Adult, Pediatric,
and Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) competencies were completed in two phases
(Phase I - self study with completed post test; Phase II - return
demonstration). Issues were identified through the course evaluations. Changes
were implemented as follows:
¨Adult, Pediatric, and
the Neonatal Intensive Care competency assessments were scheduled approximately
four months apart.
¨The respiratory care
staff was given the opportunity to come in the week prior to testing and obtain
"hands on practice" in an open laboratory setting.
¨ The new competencies
focused on psychomotor skills referencing policies and procedures.
¨ All competencies were
criterion referenced.
¨ The competency algorithm
was an open loop design that allowed any staff failing to retest until they passed.
¨ The time required for
each staff to complete the three competencies was 13.5 hours. This amounted to
an annual savings of approximately $75 (2.5hrs X $30) per staff member.
Method: Thirty-two evaluation
scores from each year, 2004, 2005, and 2006 were randomly selected for
comparison. The evaluation instrument was a five-point Likert scale with a
score of one being "Poor", a score of two "Fair", a score of three "Good", a
score of four "Very Good" and score of five "Excellent". The topics for evaluation
were: Objectives Met, Clinical Value, Presentation/Organization; and
Environment. All four scores were averaged to summarize the overall evaluation
of each competency.
Results: See Table 1 below. The mean and standard
deviation were calculated for each sample. The mean score of 4.25 for the 2004
Competency increased to 4.69 in the 2005 and 2006 Competencies. This equated to
a 10% improvement.
Table 1 - Competency
Testing Program Evaluation Scores
| 2004 Comprehensve Competency | 2005 NICU Competency | 2006 Pediatric Competency |
| Mean = 4.25 | Mean = 4.69 | Mean = 4.69 |
| Stdev = 0.73 | Stdev = 0.47 | Stdev = 0.69 |
| n = 32 | n = 32 | n = 32 |
Conclusion: Through
the use of performance improvement changes we were able to enhance our staff
experience, better meet our educational objectives and increase clinical value
in our annual competency testing while reducing cost.