2006 OPEN FORUM Abstracts
REVIEW OF FIVE MANUFACTURER'S WEB BASED RESOURCES FOR MECHANICAL VENTILATION
Bruce C. Burns RRT/RPFT, MA (Philosophy),
North
Colorado
Medical
Center
,
Banner Health,
Greeley
,
Colorado
Background: Web
based resources are frequently mentioned as a solution to "just in time"
learning needs as well as for ongoing clinical training. Hypothesis - there is
a wide variance in the quality and type of information available from
ventilator manufacturers on the web.
Method: An
inspection survey of five major ventilator manufacturers was performed using
four elements: 1) product manuals, 2) quick reference guides, 3) site search
engine, and 4) ongoing education. Each site was inspected to determine a yes/no
answer to the availability of each element in reference to mechanical
ventilators.
Results:
There is a variance in availability of materials on these
websites with no sites allowing access to product manuals and only 2 sites
having quick reference guides.
Conclusions: The
study is limited due to a very small sample size. No statistical inferences can be made;
therefore the results are qualitative in nature. Product manuals and quick
reference guides are not generally available, which may limit the usefulness of
the sites as a source of "just in time" knowledge. Manufacturers hopefully will
improve these features so the websites have greater clinical utility. Further
surveys on a wider variety of sites and a wider scope of equipment are a potential
follow on area of research. Development of a tool to assess the utility and
functionality of the websites and the quality of the information is another intriguing
challenge.