Integrating education for clinical practice change

BACKGROUND

Children with chronic medical conditions and their families have significant emotional health concerns, yet paediatricians are often ill-equipped to address these needs. The American Board of Pediatrics launched the Roadmap Project to better support emotional health as part of routine care. We present pilot work in paediatric training programmes to test educational approaches and explore lessons learned.

APPROACH

Four institutions implemented Roadmap tools into their paediatric training programmes, either incorporating them into existing educational structures or embedding them into the clinical workplace. One programme utilised an existing longitudinal curriculum, and another incorporated into a block rotation. Two programmes embedded training for residents into a larger programme for the healthcare team within the clinical space, one in outpatient clinics and one in an inpatient service.

EVALUATION

Evaluation strategies at each site matched the intended outcomes. Sites working within education programmes evaluated learners, demonstrating increases in resident skills and confidence on pre-/post-self-assessments. Sites embedding tools into the practice context measured changes in the clinical practice of the healthcare team. Despite variability in implementation, all approaches improved trainee skills; sites embedding education into a clinical setting saw greater changes in clinical practice.

IMPLICATIONS

Our pilot provided structure yet allowed for flexibility, and all sites improved trainee skills. Engaging the entire healthcare team within practice settings appears advantageous, thus embedding education into clinical practice may be preferable to a separate education programme. Similar to outcomes found in interprofessional education (IPE), educating clinical teams together may be more impactful for cultural shifts needed for changing clinical practice.

Ethics of Pediatric and Young Adult Medical Decision-Making: Case-Based Discussions Exploring Consent, Capacity, and Surrogate Decision-Making

INTRODUCTION

Most medical decisions in pediatrics involve surrogate decision-makers. Because of this, pediatricians are even more likely to encounter ethical conflicts and dilemmas surrounding medical decision-making. Pediatricians continue to report a lack of preparedness to manage situations when conflicts and dilemmas arise, suggesting a gap in education. In response to this gap, we developed a module on the ethics of medical decision-making focused on pediatrics.

METHODS

The Ethics of Pediatric and Young Adult Medical Decision-Making module included three case-based, small-group sessions on decision-making capacity and advance directives, parental decision-making, and informed consent and adolescent assent. Session materials were developed based on expert opinion and previously published content. Sessions were developed for pediatric residents; however, medical students rotating on pediatrics also participated in most sessions. Trainees completed pre- and postsession assessments of comfort and understanding.

RESULTS

An average of 19 learners completed each session. Understanding of ethical principles increased after each session. Seventy-nine percent of trainees reported increased understanding of ethical principles related to decision-making capacity, and 88% reported increased understanding of standards of surrogate decision-making. Following the session on obtaining consent and assent, 71% of trainees reported comfort obtaining consent compared to 57% reporting comfort obtaining assent.

DISCUSSION

This module successfully increased trainee comfort with many ethical issues related to pediatric medical decision-making. Areas where trainee comfort was still low postsession-specifically, obtaining consent or assent-are content areas where actual practice of these psychomotor skills is likely necessary.

Ethical Dilemmas at the Beginning and End of Life: A Needs-Based, Experience-Informed, Small-Group, Case-Based Curriculum for Pediatric Residents

INTRODUCTION

Pediatric residents are faced with ethical dilemmas in beginning- and end-of-life situations throughout their training. These situations are innately challenging, yet despite recommendations that residents receive training in ethics and end-of-life domains, they continue to report the need for additional training. To address these concerns, we developed an interactive and reflective palliative care and medical ethics curriculum including sessions focusing on ethical dilemmas at the beginning and end of life.

METHODS

This module includes a trio of case-based, small-group discussions on artificial nutrition and hydration, futility, and ethical considerations in neonatology. Content was developed based on a needs assessment, input from local experts, and previously published material. Trainees completed assessments of comfort and understanding before and after each session.

RESULTS

The module was attended and assessed by an average of 27 trainees per session, including residents and medical students. Knowledge of ethical considerations improved after individual sessions, with 86% of trainees reporting understanding ethical considerations involved in the decision to withdraw or withhold medically provided nutrition and hydration and 67% of trainees reporting understanding the use of the term futility. Trainee comfort in providing counseling or recommendations regarding specific ethical issues demonstrated a trend toward improvement but did not reach statistical significance.

DISCUSSION

We successfully implemented this innovative module, which increased trainees' comfort with end-of-life care and ethical conflicts. Future studies should focus on the trainees' ability to implement these skills in clinical practice.

Risk Factors for the Development of Hospital-Associated Venous Thromboembolism in Adult Patients Admitted to a Children's Hospital

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Hospital-associated venous thromboembolism (HA-VTE) is a leading cause of preventable in-hospital mortality in adults. Our objective was to describe HA-VTE and evaluate risk factors for its development in adults admitted to a children's hospital, which has not been previously studied. We also evaluated the performance of commonly used risk assessment tools for HA-VTE.

METHODS

A case-control study was performed at a freestanding children's hospital. Cases of HA-VTE in patients ≥18 years old (2013-2017) and age-matched controls were identified. We extracted patient and HA-VTE characteristics and HA-VTE risk factors on the basis of previous literature. Thrombosis risk assessment was performed retrospectively by using established prospective adult tools (Caprini and Padua scores).

RESULTS

Thirty-nine cases and 78 controls were identified. Upper extremities were the most common site of thrombosis (62%). Comorbid conditions were common (91.5%), and malignancy was more common among case patients than controls (P = .04). The presence of a central venous catheter (P < .01), longer length of stay (P < .01), ICU admission (P = .005), and previous admission within 30 days (P = .01) were more common among case patients when compared with controls. Median Caprini score was higher for case patients (P < .01), whereas median Padua score was similar between groups (P = .08).

CONCLUSIONS

HA-VTE in adults admitted to children's hospitals is an important consideration in a growing high-risk patient population. HA-VTE characteristics in our study were more similar to published data in pediatrics.

Going back to the ward-transitioning care back to the ward team

Transition of care from the intensive care unit (ICU) to the ward is usually an indication of the patient's improving clinical status, but is also a time when patients are particularly vulnerable. The transition between care teams poses a higher risk of medical error, which can be mitigated by safe and complete patient handoff and medication reconciliation. ICU readmissions are associated with increased mortality as well as ICU and hospital length of stay (LOS); however tools to accurately predict ICU readmission risk are limited. While there are many mechanisms in place to carefully identify patients appropriate for transfer to the ward, the optimal timing of transfer can be affected by ICU strain, limited resources such as ICU beds, and overall hospital capacity and flow leading to suboptimal transfer times or delays in transfer. The patient and family perspectives should also be considered when planning for transfer from the ICU to the ward. During times of transition, families will meet a new care team, experience uncertainty of future care plans, and adjust to a different daily routine which can lead to increased stress and anxiety. Additionally, a subset of patients, such as those with new technology, require additional multidisciplinary support, education and care coordination which can contribute to longer hospital LOS if not addressed proactively early in the hospitalization while the patient remains in the ICU. In this review article, we describe key components of the transfer from ICU to the ward, discuss current strategies to optimize timing of patient transfers, explore strategies to partner with patients and families during the transfer process, highlight patient populations where additional considerations are needed, and identify future areas of exploration which could improve the care transition from the ICU to the ward.

Development and Implementation of an End-of-Life Curriculum for Pediatric Residents

Background:

Caring for a child near the end of life (EOL) can be a stressful experience. Resident physicians are often the frontline providers responsible for managing symptoms, communicating difficult information, and pronouncing death, yet they often receive minimal education on EOL care.

Objective:

To develop and implement an EOL curriculum and to study its impact on resident comfort and attitudes surrounding EOL care.

Design:

Kern’s 6-step approach to curriculum development was used as a framework for curriculum design and implementation.

Setting/Participants:

Categorical and combined pediatric residents at a large quaternary care children’s hospital were exposed to the curriculum.

Measurements:

A cross-sectional survey was distributed pre- and postimplementation of the curriculum to evaluate its impact on resident comfort and attitudes surrounding EOL care.

Results:

One-hundred twenty-six (49%) of 258 residents completed the preimplementation survey, and 65 (32%) of 201 residents completed the postimplementation survey. Over 80% of residents reported caring for a dying patient, yet less than half the residents reported receiving prior education on EOL care. Following curriculum implementation, the percentage of residents dissatisfied with their EOL education fell from 36% to 14%, while the percentage of residents satisfied with their education increased from 14% to 29%. The postimplementation survey identified that resident comfort with communication-based topics improved, and they sought additional training in symptom management.

Conclusions:

The implementation of a longitudinal targeted multimodal EOL curriculum improved resident satisfaction with EOL education and highlighted the need for additional EOL education.

Using Quality Improvement to Introduce and Standardize the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) for Adult Inpatients at a Children's Hospital

INTRODUCTION

The population of adults with childhood-onset chronic illness is growing across children's hospitals and constitutes a high risk population. National Early Warning Score (NEWS) is among the most recently validated adult early warning scores (EWSs) for early recognition of and response to clinical deterioration. Our aim was to implement and standardize NEWS scoring in 80% of patients age 21 and older admitted to a children's hospital.

METHODS

Our intervention was tested on a single unit of our children's hospital. The primary process measure was the percentage of NEWS documented within 1 hour of routine nursing assessments, and was tracked using a run chart. Improvement activities focused on effective training, key stakeholder buy-in, increased awareness, real-time mitigation of failures, accountability for adherence, and action-oriented response. We also tracked the distribution of NEWS values and medical emergency team calls.

RESULTS

The percentage of NEWS documented with routine nursing assessments for patients age 21 and over increased from 0% to 90% within 15 weeks and remained at 77% or greater for 17 weeks. Our distribution of NEWS values was similar to previously reported NEWS distribution.

CONCLUSIONS

A nurse-driven adult early warning system for inpatients age 21 and older at a children's hospital can be achieved through a standardized EWS assessment process, incorporation into the electronic health record, and charge nurse and key stakeholder oversight. Furthermore, implementation of an adult EWS being used at a pediatric institution and our distribution of NEWS values were comparable to distribution published from adult hospitals.