Paediatric Chronic Tracheostomy Care: An Evaluation of an Innovative Competency-based Education Program for Community Health Care Providers

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Evaluation of HomeCare RN Respiratory Education
• Interventions: Other: Tracheostomy Training Course

• Registration Number: NCT04559932
• Lead Sponsor: The Hospital for Sick Children

Brief Summary

This project will evaluate a new course developed for nurses that provide care to children with breathing technology including breathing tubes and home breathing machines. The investigators plan to assess the nurses' knowledge and comfort of their ability to care for these medical technologies prior to the course as well as their ability to retain their knowledge 6 weeks and 6 months after course completion.

Detailed Description

A structured program evaluation considering a hierarchy of outcomes is essential to determine whether the tracheostomy module is associated with improved knowledge and skills for CHPs (community health providers). This investigators proposed study is guided by the evaluation of knowledge acquisition and self-efficacy as a theoretical framework 24. CHPs' sense of self-efficacy or perceived capability in caring for this population is important to foster to potentially mitigate significant morbidity and mortality, while ultimately striving for safe, high-quality clinical care for these medically complex children.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2017-11-15
• Primary Completion: 2019-09-30
• Study Completion: 2019-09-30
• Study First Submitted: 2020-08-27
• Study First Submitted QC: 2020-09-16
• Study First Posted: 2020-09-23
• Status Verified: 2023-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2023-11-23
• Last Update Posted: 2023-11-27

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 44

Inclusion Criteria

• Course registrants for the competency-based tracheostomy education course from VHA Home Healthcare agency
• Consent to study participation
• English speaking

Exclusion Criteria

• Previously attended the competency-based tracheostomy course at SickKids

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Intervention	Tracheostomy Training Course	The knowledge and self-efficacy pre-tests will be completed at the start of the course and the post-test will be completed after the course at the end of the day. Study participants will complete tests independently using paper and pencil. Six weeks and six months post course completion, the knowledge and self-efficacy tests will be completed using REDcap (Research Electronic Data Capture), a secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases or via telephone as per participant preference. Study participants will be sent a link to complete the tests online for the subsequent study visits. Study participants will receive 2 reminder emails (1 week apart) and 1 reminder phone call after the email reminders (if applicable) to complete the tests. Monthly telephone calls by the RA will be made to review the HCP experience logs.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
The difference in the immediate knowledge retention scores of tracheostomy course participants versus controls at 6 week follow-up	6 weeks	Knowledge Assessment - Tracheostomy Tubes: Multiple choice question (MCQ) tests have been developed by clinical experts. These tests focus on the important knowledge required to care for a child with a tracheostomy tube. Major themes include: i) clinical assessment; ii) safety; iii) general care; iv) troubleshooting/ emergency management. Higher Scores mean better knowledge retention.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
The difference in the self-efficacy scores of course participants versus controls at 6 weeks and 6 month follow-up	6 weeks and 6 months	Self-Efficacy - Tracheostomy Tubes: A self-efficacy survey that is content relevant for tracheostomy tubes has been developed based on Bandura's framework 24. The survey consists of 16 items assessing the registrants' perceived capability to perform each aspect of care on a likert scale with a 0-100 response interval. Higher Scores mean more self-efficacy.
The difference in the sustained knowledge retention scores of course participants versus controls at 6 month follow-up	6 weeks and 6 months	Knowledge Assessment - Tracheostomy Tubes: Multiple choice question (MCQ) tests have been developed by clinical experts. These tests focus on the important knowledge required to care for a child with a tracheostomy tube. Major themes include: i) clinical assessment; ii) safety; iii) general care; iv) troubleshooting/ emergency management. Higher Scores mean better knowledge retention.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

The Hospital for Sick Children; 🇨🇦 Toronto, Ontario, Canada