The Value of the CNS in Delivering Rapidly Changing Information During the COVID-19 Crisis
Topic of Interest
Role of CNS in COVID-19 Pandemic
Patient Populations
Capture Value of the CNS
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this initiative was to implement multimodal education frameworks and strategies to improve staff and physician knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) and overall practice outcomes related to COVID-19.
Relevance/Significance: In late 2019, the Coronavirus evolved to infect the human respiratory system (SARS-CoV-2 also known as COVID-19). On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) labeled this outbreak as a pandemic. During March, this organization recognized the importance of providing education on COVID-19 considering how rapidly information regarding the virus was evolving.
Strategy and Implementation: Initial sensing sessions were performed with staff related to COVID-19. Using Bloom’s Domains of Learning, the CNS team identified knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop the education and created learning objectives guided by Bloom’s taxonomy of verbs mapped to Benner’s Stages of Clinical Competency. Education was provided to staff and physicians through one-on-one and group instruction, case studies, question and answer, video/media, and simulation. Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation was used to evaluate the education through a retrospective pre-post assessment and incident report COVID-19-related practice events.
Evaluation/Outcomes: Among the 346 respondents participating in the retrospective pre-post assessment, the majority (49%) were clinical nurses and lead clinical nurses from the critical care and emergency department areas. Results from the assessment demonstrated a highly statistically significant (p<0.001) improvement in staff and physician KSAs related to COVID-19. Additionally, there was a 40% reduction in incident reporting related to COVID-19 practices from March-July 2020.
Implications for Practice: Using multimodal education frameworks and strategies can improve clinical practice and should be considered for all healthcare-related education.