(1097) Cross-Training Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Nurses: Assessment of Knowledge and Comfort

Introduction: Our Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) has two separate physical floors, each with their own nursing expertise—trauma/neurosurgical cases on one, and oncology/bone marrow transplant (BMT) on the other. A physical merge of the two floors is planned, requiring merging of our nursing core. We wanted to understand both the knowledge and comfort of our nurses with the overall PICU population as we went through the “cross-training” process.

Methods: We surveyed our PICU nurses prior to any cross-training education occurring, except for some 1:1 precepted orientation to the opposite floor. We surveyed them a second time after a skills station and educational presentations had occurred. The survey consisted of questions surrounding their experience, seven knowledge assessment questions, and comfort with the trauma/neurosurgical and oncology/BMT populations. Descriptive statistics were performed, as well as two-tailed t tests.

Results: Seventy-six nurses took the first survey with 43% (n=33) having two years of experience or less. Sixty-two nurses took the second survey with 34% (n=21) having two years of experience or less. Sixty-eight percent (n=52) nurses specialized in trauma/neurosurgery in the first survey, and 54% (n=34) specialized in the same in the second survey. The average knowledge score on the first run was 3.3 (47%). The average knowledge score on the second run was 4 (57%), which was significantly different. The comfort level was not significantly different between the two surveys for a traumatic brain injury patient, neurosurgical patient, or septic shock patient. The comfort level in caring for an oncologic and BMT patient significantly improved post education (p .01 and .04 respectively).

Conclusions: We saw initial improvement in the average knowledge of our nurses with the initial cross-training educational initiatives. We hope to see continued improvement, as we continue additional educational initiatives such as simulation. The comfort level of our nurses significantly improved after initial education for oncology and BMT patients. Given that most of the nurses specialized in the opposite population, this is encouraging that our “cross-training” educational initiatives are effective.