Development of a Computer-Based ECG Monitoring Education Program: Phase 3
Despite advances in hospital ECG monitoring technology, monitoring practices are inconsistent and often inadequate. We recently developed practice standards for ECG monitoring (Drew, Califf, Funk et al., 2004; Drew, Califf, Funk et al., 2005) and submitted a proposal for a multi-site randomized clinical trial (M. Funk - Principal Investigator) to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to test the effect of these standards on nurses' knowledge and skills, quality of care, and patient outcomes. Part of the intervention in this trial is a computer-based ECG monitoring education program for nurses working on monitored hospital units. Last year, we received funding from the Beatrice Renfield - Yale School of Nursing Clinical Research Initiative Fund to develop, evaluate, and revise the computer-based program that will be used in this trial. The trial has been conceptualized as occurring in 3 phases - 2 of which have been completed. During Phase 1, the first of four modules was tested by 41 nurses in monitored units at Danbury Hospital (Danbury, CT), San Francisco General Hospital (San Francisco, CA) and UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA), as well as graduate nursing students at UCSF and YSN. During Phase 2, Barbara Drew, co-investigator, presented workshops in Michigan and Maine that covered the content of modules 2, 3, and 4 (arrhythmia, ischemia, and QT interval monitoring). Pre- and post-tests were completed by 180 nurses participating in the workshops. During Phase 3, the remaining three modules will be developed, evaluated and revised. Testing will occur at the same sites as in Phase 1. Therefore, the purpose of the clinical demonstration project presented in this proposal is to complete Phase 3 of this project: the development and testing of a computer-based ECG monitoring education program and computer-based measures of nurses' knowledge related to continuous ECG monitoring. All nurses working on hospital units with ECG monitoring may potentially benefit from the computer-based ECG education program developed in this clinical demonstration project. It will be made available on the Web sites of the American Heart Association and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
Funded by the Beatrice Renfield-Yale School of Nursing Clinical Research Initiatives Fund
