Telecounselling as a Virtual Platform to Replace On-the-job Training for Asthma Counseling

Asthma education is essential in improving outcomes in asthma management. Patients with asthma exacerbation frequently present to the urgent care centre or emergency department for emergency treatment. Nurse-led asthma education was considered as beneficial to asthma management. However, not all nursing staff in the urgent care centre and emergency department are equipped with skills to counsel patients regarding their asthma control and inhaler use. It is important to empower the nursing staff with these skills such that the care of patients with asthma is not compromised.

In the coronavirus 2019 pandemic, on-the-job training for asthma counseling becomes more difficult. Asthma counseling trainers were usually in the clean zones but recipients of asthma counseling training were usually in the dirty zones. Telecounseling as a training platform becomes a mainstream of training during the pandemic. Telehealthcare interventions on patients with asthma was proven to reduce hospitalization over a 12-month period in a previous meta-analysis. However, there was no study investigating the efficacy of telecounseling to replace on-the-job training for asthma counseling. This study is designed to fill the knowledge gap for telecounseling as a training platform for asthma counseling among nurses.