Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Methodol. May 20, 2022; 12(3): 113-121
Published online May 20, 2022. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v12.i3.113
Airway management training program for nurses via online course in COVID-19 preparedness
Bhavna Gupta, Gaurav Jain, Sharmishtha Pathak, Priyanka Mishra, Hemanth Kumar, Shalinee Rao
Bhavna Gupta, Gaurav Jain, Sharmishtha Pathak, Priyanka Mishra, Department of Anesthesia, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh 249203, Uttarakhand, India
Hemanth Kumar, Shalinee Rao, Department of Advanced Centre of Continuous Professional Development, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh 249203, Uttarakhand, India
Author contributions: Gupta B and Jain G designed the research study and performed the research and manuscript editing and review; Pathak S and Mishra P performed the literature search, data analysis, statistical analysis, and manuscript preparation and editing; Rao S and Kumar H performed the study design, research study, and manuscript editing and review; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the AIIMS Institutional Review Board (study registration No. AIIMS/IEC/20/283).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Priyanka Mishra, MBBS, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesia, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Veerbhadra Marg, Rishikesh 249203, Uttarakhand, India. pmishra15390@gmail.com
Received: December 17, 2021
Peer-review started: December 17, 2021
First decision: March 24, 2022
Revised: March 27, 2022
Accepted: May 7, 2022
Article in press: May 7, 2022
Published online: May 20, 2022
Processing time: 152 Days and 10 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Nursing officers are an integral component of any medical team. They participate in taking care of basic airway management and assist in advanced airway management, specifically amidst the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

AIM

To assess the efficacy of a standardized web-based training module for nurses in preparedness to fight against COVID-19.

METHODS

The training was held in three sessions of 1 h each, consisting of live audio-visual lectures, case scenarios, and skill demonstrations. The sequence of airway equipment, drug preparation, airway examination, and plans of airway management was demonstrated through mannequin-based video-clips.

RESULTS

Pre- and post-test scores as well as objective structured clinical examination scores were analyzed using Student’s t-test and the Likert scale was used for feedback assessment. It was found that the mean score out of the total score of 20 was 8.47 ± 4.2 in the pre-test, while in the post-test it was 17.4 ± 1.8 (P value < 0.001). The participants also felt self-reliant in executing the roles of airway assistant (63.3%) and drug assistant (74.3%). Fear of self-infection with COVID-19 was also high, as 66% of participants feared working with the patient’s airway.

CONCLUSION

Amidst this COVID-19 emergency, when the health care systems are being persistently challenged, training of nursing staff in the safe conduct of airway management can ensure delivery of life-saving treatment.

Keywords: COVID-19; Nursing; Airway management; Online; Training; Preparedness

Core Tip: The health care response systems are being persistently challenged by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Nurses are actively involved in various tasks of airway management like preparation of airway equipment, drugs, and basic airway management. This study demonstrated a gross lack of knowledge regarding airway management despite receiving basic life support training. The participants felt more self-reliant and confident in executing the roles of airway assistant and drug assistant after the session. There is a need to train nursing staff from different subsets of practice in the safe conduct of airway management and simulation based online training program for health professionals can be employed for preparedness against COVID-19.