Here's Lookin' At You Kid! Implementation of Individual Fetal Monitoring Strip Review Education
Title: Here's Lookin' At You Kid! Implementation of Individual Fetal Monitoring Strip Review Education
- Analyze the most current literature regarding the need for standardized interpretation and communication of fetal monitoring strips among nursing staff.
- Identify the methods used at Banner Thunderbird Medical Center to provide one-to-one staff education using live fetal monitoring strips.
- Describe the implications of improved consistent fetal monitoring strip interpretation, knowledge of necessary interventions and appropriate communication among nursing staff.
Obstetric nurses are consistently provided with formal education on fetal monitoring. This didactic education ensures there is a foundation for excellence in the care that they give to the patient at the bedside. However, nurses may not be speaking the same language when they are interpreting, intervening and communicating live fetal monitoring strips on their nursing units. It became clear that a process for evaluating individual nurses’ practice was needed. This type of education would also allow for real time remediation and education regarding fetal monitor strips by the Clinical Nurse Specialist and the Clinical Education Specialist.
Proposed change:
Implement a process for evaluating and providing education regarding live interpretation, knowledge of necessary interventions and appropriate communication of fetal monitor strips with individual nurses in a one-to-one setting. This process will help to ensure there is consistency in fetal monitoring by nursing staff.
Implementation, outcomes and evaluation:
The Clinical Nurse Specialist and Clinical Education Specialist developed a process for evaluating and providing education regarding fetal monitor strips with individual nurses. Nurses were privately asked ten questions regarding their interpretation of live fetal monitor strips. They were then asked to provide explanation of how they would intervene and communicate the strip. This process was repeated for three live tracings during their one-to-one education. The nurses were given follow-up remediation and education for any incorrect responses during the January and March 2012 sessions. Twenty-five nurses were blindly chosen and were scored with a likert scale of 0-4 based on their number of correct responses during their one-to-one sessions in January and March 2012. The nurses were then retested in September 2012 without remediation or educational tools. The average score of the twenty-five nurses in January 2012 was 1.68/4. The average score in March 2012 of the same 25 nurses was 2.4/4. The average score in September 2012 was 3.65/4. The increase in average scores demonstrated a positive relationship between the one-to-one strip reviews and the nurses’ ability to consistently interpret the fetal monitor strips.
Implications for nursing practice:
This process for evaluating and providing education for live fetal monitor strip interpretation to individual nurses can be implemented in any nursing care facility. It is essential that nurses not only complete formal education courses in fetal monitoring, but are assessed regarding their knowledge and ability to intervene and communicate in live situations.
Keywords:
Fetal monitoring, education, strip review