Abstract
Objective: To determine whether a brief educational program can reduce variability of interpretation of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure (PAOP) tracings.¶Design: Prospective, observational study.¶Participants: Twenty-three intensive care nurses and 18 physicians.¶Interventions: Participants interpreted PAOP tracings before and 1 week after receiving a single, brief educational session and/or written materials (“in-service”) designed to reduce interobserver variability of PAOP interpretation. Differences between two reference values before and after in-service (mean population and Chief of Critical Care's readings) were compared for both groups.¶Results: There were no significant differences in the variabilities in PAOP interpretations before and after in-service in either group.¶Conclusions: We conclude that this specific educational program was ineffective in reducing variability of interpretation of PAOP tracings. These data suggest that more comprehensive educational tools and/or sustained programs may be required to improve performance of critical care personnel in PAOP interpretation.
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Received: 1 November 1999/Final revision received: 15 February 2000/Accepted: 6 March 2000
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Zarich, S., Pust-Marcone, J., Amoateng-Adjepong, Y. et al. Failure of a brief educational program to improve interpretation of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure tracings. Intensive Care Med 26, 698–703 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s001340051235
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s001340051235