Dataset Information

Evaluating the Effect of a Web-Based E-Learning Tool for Health Professional Education on Clinical Vancomycin Use: Comparative Study.

ABSTRACT: Internet-based learning for health professional education is increasing. It offers advantages over traditional learning approaches, as it enables learning to be completed at a time convenient to the user and improves access where facilities are geographically disparate. We developed and implemented the Vancomycin Interactive (VI) e-learning tool to improve knowledge on the clinical use of the antibiotic vancomycin, which is commonly used for treatment of infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).The aims of this study were to evaluate the effect of the VI e-learning tool on (1) survey knowledge scores and (2) clinical use of vancomycin among health professionals.We conducted a comparative pre-post intervention study across the 14 hospitals of two health districts in New South Wales, Australia. A knowledge survey was completed by nurses, doctors, and pharmacists before and after release of a Web-based e-learning tool. Survey scores were compared with those obtained following traditional education in the form of an email intervention. Survey questions related to dosing, administration, and monitoring of vancomycin. Outcome measures were survey knowledge scores among the three health professional groups, vancomycin plasma trough levels, and vancomycin approvals recorded on a computerized clinical decision support system.Survey response rates were low at 26.87% (577/2147) preintervention and 8.24% (177/2147) postintervention. The VI was associated with an increase in knowledge scores (maximum score=5) among nurses (median 2, IQR 1-2 to median 2, IQR 1-3; P<.001), but not among other professional groups. The comparator email intervention was associated with an increase in knowledge scores among doctors (median 3, IQR 2-4 to median 4, IQR 2-4; P=.04). Participants who referred to Web-based resources while completing the e-learning tool achieved higher overall scores than those who did not (P<.001). The e-learning tool was not shown to be significantly more effective than the comparator email in the clinical use of vancomycin, as measured by plasma levels within the therapeutic range.The e-learning tool was associated with improved knowledge scores among nurses, whereas the comparator email was associated with improved scores among doctors. This implies that different strategies may be required for optimizing the effectiveness of education among different health professional groups. Low survey response rates limited conclusions regarding the tool's effectiveness. Improvements to design and evaluation methodology may increase the likelihood of a demonstrable effect from e-learning tools in the future.

SUBMITTER: Bond SE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5847818 | biostudies-other | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Evaluating the Effect of a Web-Based E-Learning Tool for Health Professional Education on Clinical Vancomycin Use: Comparative Study.

Bond Stuart Evan SE Crowther Shelley P SP Adhikari Suman S Chubaty Adriana J AJ Yu Ping P Borchard Jay P JP Boutlis Craig Steven CS Yeo Wilfred Winston WW Miyakis Spiros S

JMIR medical education 20180226 1

<h4>Background</h4>Internet-based learning for health professional education is increasing. It offers advantages over traditional learning approaches, as it enables learning to be completed at a time convenient to the user and improves access where facilities are geographically disparate. We developed and implemented the Vancomycin Interactive (VI) e-learning tool to improve knowledge on the clinical use of the antibiotic vancomycin, which is commonly used for treatment of infections caused by m ...[more]

PMID: 29483071

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Traditional approaches to health professional education are being challenged by increased clinical demands and decreased available time. Web-based e-learning tools offer a convenient and effective method of delivering education, particularly across multiple health care facilities. The effectiveness of this model for health professional education needs to be explored in context. OBJECTIVES:The study aimed to (1) determine health professionals' experience and knowledge of clinical use of vancomycin, an antibiotic used for treatment of serious infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and (2) describe the design and implementation of a Web-based e-learning tool created to improve knowledge in this area. METHODS:We conducted a study on the design and implementation of a video-enhanced, Web-based e-learning tool between April 2014 and January 2016. A Web-based survey was developed to determine prior experience and knowledge of vancomycin use among nurses, doctors, and pharmacists. The Vancomycin Interactive (VI) involved a series of video clips interspersed with question and answer scenarios, where a correct response allowed for progression. Dramatic tension and humor were used as tools to engage users. Health professionals' knowledge of clinical vancomycin use was obtained from website data; qualitative participant feedback was also collected. RESULTS:From the 577 knowledge survey responses, pharmacists (n=70) answered the greatest number of questions correctly (median score 4/5), followed by doctors (n=271; 3/5) and nurses (n=236; 2/5; P<.001). Survey questions on target trough concentration (75.0%, 433/577) and rate of administration (64.9%, 375/577) were answered most correctly, followed by timing of first level (49%, 283/577), maintenance dose (41.9%, 242/577), and loading dose (38.0%, 219/577). Self-reported "very" and "reasonably" experienced health professionals were also more likely to achieve correct responses. The VI was completed by 163 participants during the study period. The rate of correctly answered VI questions on first attempt was 65% for nurses (n=63), 68% for doctors (n=86), and 82% for pharmacists (n=14; P<.001), reflecting a similar pattern to the knowledge survey. Knowledge gaps were identified for loading dose (39.2% correct on first attempt; 64/163), timing of first trough level (50.3%, 82/163), and subsequent trough levels (47.9%, 78/163). Of the 163 participants, we received qualitative user feedback from 51 participants following completion of the VI. Feedback was predominantly positive with themes of "entertaining," "engaging," and "fun" identified; however, there were some technical issues identified relating to accessibility from different operating systems and browsers. CONCLUSIONS:A novel Web-based e-learning tool was successfully developed combining game design principles and humor to improve user engagement. Knowledge gaps were identified that allowed for targeting of future education strategies. The VI provides an innovative model for delivering Web-based education to busy health professionals in different locations.

Project description:BACKGROUND:In the last few years, the number of mobile apps for health professionals has increased exponentially. Nevertheless, there is a lack of knowledge about the professional use, training requirements, and quality perception of these apps among health care professionals such as nurses. Considering that the nursing profession is the largest segment of health care workforce in many countries such as Spain, the impact of the use of health apps by these professionals can be critical to the future of modern health care. OBJECTIVE:The main objective of this study was to determine if nurses were using health apps professionally and what types of apps they were using. The secondary objectives were (1) to find out if, among nurses, there is a need for training in the use of health apps and (2) to explore nurses' perceptions of health professional apps, determining whether there is a need for a certification process for health apps and the type of institution or organization that should review and validate these apps for professional use. METHODS:After an initial piloting survey, all registered nurses at the Nursing Association of Barcelona were invited to participate in a 34-item online survey. Eventually, 1293 nurses participated in the survey; however, 52 did not complete the survey properly, omitting both age or gender information, and they were excluded from the analysis. RESULTS:About half of the respondents (600/1241, 48.35%) had health professional apps installed on their devices and were included for analysis. Most participants in the survey were women (474/600, 79.0%) and the remaining were men (126/600, 21.0%). The most popular types of apps used and installed among nurses were related to drug information, health calculators, and health guidelines. Overall, 97.0% (582/600) of nurses thought that the health apps should be certified, and 80.0% (480/600) agreed that the certification process should be carried out by professional or health institutions. Furthermore, 14.5% (87/600) of participants mentioned that they were asked by their patients to prescribe a health app and only 6.5% (28/430) recommended them often. Most nurses (354/433, 81.8%) who answered the question about the importance of receiving specific training on using and prescribing health apps considered this point a very relevant issue. CONCLUSIONS:About half of the nurses in Catalonia use health apps for professional purposes, and they believe that these types of tools should be validated and certified by health or professional institutions before using them in clinical environments. Although the prescription of health apps in clinical environments is infrequent among nurses, they would be willing to prescribe apps if they were certified by a health organization. Finally, among nurses, there is a need for training in using and prescribing health apps for health care purposes.

Project description:INTRODUCTION:Interprofessional learning (IPL) is increasingly recognized as a promising strategy in addressing the burgeoning challenges in healthcare. Its assessment remains to be perplexing and requires accurate measurements. Thus, this study intended to develop a valid and reliable reflective tool in assessing IPL as a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) outcome. METHODS:A one-group post-posttest pre-experimental design with tool development was employed to establish the validity and reliability of the "Inventory of Reflective Vignette-Interprofessional Learning" (IRV-IPL). This tool was developed from an extensive literature review and designed with three segments to assess interprofessional competencies before, after, and what if scenarios using vignettes. After it was validated by education experts (n = 5) and written consent forms were signed by the participants, the IRV-IPL was pilot tested among healthcare professionals (n = 10) for analysis and improvement. During the actual implementation, it was administered to healthcare professionals (n = 45) who participated in a university-provided CPD event. Collected data underwent validity and reliability testing. RESULTS:IRV-IPL generated excellent internal consistency (? = 0.98), and across all segments of collaboration (? = 0.96), coordination (? = 0.96), cooperation (? = 0.96), communication (? = 0.97), and commendation (? = 0.98). Items exhibited significantly positive large correlations (r > 0.35, p < 0.05) in all segments showing beneficial measures for postdictive validity in recalling prior interprofessional competencies, and predictive validity in estimating interprofessional learning as an outcome of CPD and alternative interventions. CONCLUSION:This study provided a piece of groundwork evidence on the use of IRV-IPL as a reflective assessment tool for interprofessional learning in CPD contexts. Further studies are essential to explore the educational utility of IRV framework in crafting relevant assessments and to establish construct validity of IRV-IPL using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses.

Project description:BackgroundPrecision medicine has resulted in increasing complexity in the treatment of cancer. Web-based educational materials can help address the needs of oncology health care professionals seeking to understand up-to-date treatment strategies.ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess learning styles of oncology health care professionals and to determine whether learning style-tailored educational materials lead to enhanced learning.MethodsIn all, 21,465 oncology health care professionals were invited by email to participate in the fully automated, parallel group study. Enrollment and follow-up occurred between July 13 and September 7, 2015. Self-enrolled participants took a learning style survey and were assigned to the intervention or control arm using concealed alternating allocation. Participants in the intervention group viewed educational materials consistent with their preferences for learning (reading, listening, and/or watching); participants in the control group viewed educational materials typical of the My Cancer Genome website. Educational materials covered the topic of treatment of metastatic estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer using cyclin-dependent kinases 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors. Participant knowledge was assessed immediately before (pretest), immediately after (posttest), and 2 weeks after (follow-up test) review of the educational materials. Study statisticians were blinded to group assignment.ResultsA total of 751 participants enrolled in the study. Of these, 367 (48.9%) were allocated to the intervention arm and 384 (51.1%) were allocated to the control arm. Of those allocated to the intervention arm, 256 (69.8%) completed all assessments. Of those allocated to the control arm, 296 (77.1%) completed all assessments. An additional 12 participants were deemed ineligible and one withdrew. Of the 552 participants, 438 (79.3%) self-identified as multimodal learners. The intervention arm showed greater improvement in posttest score compared to the control group (0.4 points or 4.0% more improvement on average; P=.004) and a higher follow-up test score than the control group (0.3 points or 3.3% more improvement on average; P=.02).ConclusionsAlthough the study demonstrated more learning with learning style-tailored educational materials, the magnitude of increased learning and the largely multimodal learning styles preferred by the study participants lead us to conclude that future content-creation efforts should focus on multimodal educational materials rather than learning style-tailored content.

Project description:BackgroundA modal shift to cycling has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide health co-benefits. Methods, models, and tools are needed to estimate the potential for cycling uptake and communicate to policy makers the range of impacts this would have.Methods and findingsThe Impacts of Cycling Tool (ICT) is an open source model with a web interface for visualising travel patterns and comparing the impacts of different scenarios of cycling uptake. It is currently applied to England. The ICT allows users to visualise individual and trip-level data from the English National Travel Survey (NTS), 2004-2014 sample, 132,000 adults. It models scenarios in which there is an increase in the proportion of the population who cycle regularly, using a distance-based propensity approach to model which trips would be cycled. From this, the model estimates likely impact on travel patterns, health, and greenhouse gas emissions. Estimates of nonoccupational physical activity are generated by fusing the NTS with the English Active People Survey (APS, 2013-2014, 559,515 adults) to create a synthetic population. Under 'equity' scenarios, we investigate what would happen if cycling levels increased equally among all age and gender categories, as opposed to in proportion to the profile of current cyclists. Under electric assist bike (pedelecs or 'e-bike') scenarios, the probability of cycling longer trips increases, based on the e-bike data from the Netherlands, 2013-2014 Dutch Travel Survey (50,868 adults).Outcomes are presented across domains including transport (trip duration and trips by mode), health (physical activity levels, years of life lost), and car transport-related CO2 emissions. Results can be visualised for the whole population and various subpopulations (region, age, gender, and ethnicity). The tool is available at www.pct.bike/ict. If the proportion of the English population who cycle regularly increased from 4.8% to 25%, then there would be notable reductions in car miles and passenger related CO2 emissions (2.2%) and health benefits (2.1% reduction in years of life lost due to premature mortality). If the new cyclists had access to e-bikes, then mortality reductions would be similar, while the reduction in car miles and CO2 emissions would be larger (2.7%). If take-up of cycling occurred equally by gender and age (under 80 years), then health benefits would be marginally greater (2.2%) but reduction in CO2 slightly smaller (1.8%). The study is limited by the quality and comparability of the input data (including reliance on self-report behaviours). As with all modelling studies, many assumptions are required and potentially important pathways excluded (e.g. injury, air pollution, and noise pollution).ConclusionThis study demonstrates a generalisable approach for using travel survey data to model scenarios of cycling uptake that can be applied to a wide range of settings. The use of individual-level data allows investigation of a wide range of outcomes, and variation across subgroups. Future work should investigate the sensitivity of results to assumptions and omissions, and if this varies across setting.

Dataset Information

Evaluating the Effect of a Web-Based E-Learning Tool for Health Professional Education on Clinical Vancomycin Use: Comparative Study.

Publications

Evaluating the Effect of a Web-Based E-Learning Tool for Health Professional Education on Clinical Vancomycin Use: Comparative Study.

Similar Datasets

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