Efficacy of an Airway Management Educational Primer for Perianesthesia Nursing Staff

It is a requirement of perianesthesia nurses to be competent in caring for patients who are sedated or anesthetized for procedures in a hospital setting. Oftentimes, when patients are sedated, they are unable to maintain their own airways. This can lead to respiratory decompensation of the patient if interventions are not employed. Therefore, perianesthesia nursing requires expert advanced airway assessment and management skills or training to achieve competency. A review of related studies on continuing education of nurses reveals that trainings are beneficial in the realms of knowledge acquisition, practice change, and perceived self-efficacy. The primary purpose of this project was to evaluate the efficacy of such an educational training on knowledge gained utilizing a pre/post-test method of assessment. A secondary aim was to measure if there was a reduction in skill-related anxiety of the nurses following the training utilizing a short-form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults. Long-term follow up of both knowledge gained and anxiety levels was performed at a six-month interval after the initial training. The findings between the initial knowledge and anxiety pre- and post-tests were both statistically significant (p\u3c0.001). However, at the six-month interval, neither the knowledge gained nor reduction of anxiety remained significantly better compared to the initial pre-test. Nurse training and education is effective in increasing knowledge and self-efficacy, but long-term continuing education may be necessary to maintain familiarity and competence with material