Corso FAD sull’interpretazione dell’elettrocardiogramma: Valutazione, Apprendimento ed Impatto nell’Organizzazione
Authors: Bulgarelli Annamaria , Ferraresi Annamaria 
Published: October 2018

Background. ECG interpretation represents fundamental knowledge to be acquired through training, particularly for nurses and midwives working in an acute care hospital. In fact, quick and accurate interpretation of the ECG is essential for early recognition of alterations that may endanger the patient’s life and alert the doctor to reporting. Previous studies have shown that ECG interpretation skill varies widely among nurses and related early diagnosis may be compromised. The most common training programmes for nurses in ECG interpretation involve lectures and case analysis. Since some studies show the effectiveness of Distance Learning (DL) in the development of knowledge related to ECG interpretation, an e-learning programme has been developed at the University Hospital of Ferrara for the acquisition of this knowledge. The aims of our study are to evaluate the ECG interpretation skills between nurses and midwives following an on-line training course based on lectures and analysis of clinical cases and to measure organisational impact. Materials and methods. The course was created using the Moodle platform that provides a reporting system that can detect and track the learning path of each participant. The population considered in the impact survey is 316 nursing and obstetric staff employed on open-ended and fixed term contracts at the Sant’Anna University Hospital of Ferrara who took part in the DL course from the 4th of November 2013 to the 31st of August 2014. For the evaluation of the course the variables analysed are: gender, course completion time, scores obtained from the learning test, satisfaction questionnaire, organisational impact questionnaire. Results. As for the satisfaction questionnaire, there are 312 participants; since at the time of download the distance training course was still active. The organisational impact questionnaire was sent to all those who had finished the course at least six months ago, 63 nurses joined the survey. The three types of questionnaires evaluated showed quite satisfactory results: 1) almost all the participants, using the satisfaction questionnaire, expressed full satisfaction with the course as it proved to be useful and appreciated. 2) the analysed variables of the learning questionnaire such as the average score obtained by the participants is 17.01/18; the times for completing the questionnaire show a fair distribution in the three work shifts. 3) the variables analysed in the impact questionnaire include the average age of the 46-year-old participants; a distribution of fairly balanced departments between the medical, surgical and emergency departments; the feedback from the participants of the clinical cases treated in the course is quite representative as also the application of the acquired knowledge has achieved an improvement in the quality of the care provided. Discussion. The data analysed are preliminary: at the moment it can be inferred that professionals are interested in increasing their skills in the ECG field and that online training is useful for improving these skills which are applied in clinical practice.