Quality of Care in Centers Providing Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Cardiac arrest centers are specialized in treating critically ill patients with severe cardiovascular diseases, such as cardiac arrest, cardiogenic shock or acute myocardial infarction. Diagnostic and therapeutic measures, such as the use of devices for extracorporeal life support, require highly specialized training and skills. Apart from extensive medical expertise, physicians and nurses may be exposed to exceptional levels of occupational stressors. Therefore, excellent medical, psychological and inter-personal training of the medical staff is essential to improve patient outcomes. Assessment of quality of care is important to provide continuous improvement in patient care and team performance. To the best of our knowledge, there is no study which examined the quality of care in cardiac arrest centers across key dimensions of quality of care. Therefore, we aim to assess a bundle of key dimensions, that is psychological strain (P), resource utilization (R), interaction (I) between doctoral and nursing staff, costs of care (C) and education (E) programs for staff (PRICE scheme). A cross-sectional study will be conducted with doctors and nurses, using a digital quesitonnaire that will cover the five dimensions of the PRICE scheme.

Official Title
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Quality of Care in Centers Providing Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Conditions
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Cardiogenic Shock, Myocardial Infarction, Cardiac Arrest, Extracorporeal Circulation; Complications

Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Adult medical doctors or nurses Permament staff in the cardiac arrest center Cardiac arrest center that provides therapy with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) Exclusion Criteria: No permanent employment in a cardiac arrest center Non-adult staff Not a medical doctor or nurse Cardiac arrest center that does not provide therapy with ECMO

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Medical doctors<br>Medical doctors who are employed as permanent staff in a cardiac arrest center which provides extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. | |
| Nurses<br>Nurses who are employed as permanent staff in a cardiac arrest center which provides extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Psychological strain (P) | The psychologial strain of permanent staff in the cardiac arrest center will be assessed based on a standardized questionnaire. | During one week all permanent staff of a cardiac arrest center will be asked to fill out the standardized questionnaire. | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ressource utilization (R) | The availability of material and non-material ressources and the extent of ressource utilization in the cardiac arrest center will be assessed based on a standardized questionnaire. | During one week all permanent staff of a cardiac arrest center will be asked to fill out the standardized questionnaire. | 
| Interaction (I) | The quality of inter-professional interactions between medical doctors and nurses in the cardiac arrest center will be assessed based on a standardized questionnaire. | During one week all permanent staff of a cardiac arrest center will be asked to fill out the standardized questionnaire. | 
| Costs (C) of care | The costs of care in the cardiac arrest center will be assessed based on a standardized questionnaire. | During one week all permanent staff of a cardiac arrest center will be asked to fill out the standardized questionnaire. | 
| Education (E) programs | The availability and quality of education programs in the cardiac arrest center will be assessed based on a standardized questionnaire. | During one week all permanent staff of a cardiac arrest center will be asked to fill out the standardized questionnaire. |