Development and evaluation of an electronic medical device training passport to identify nurses' training needs

All nurses, particularly those working in critical care settings, are required to use medical devices when providing patient care. However, inconsistent practice and variations in documentation can make it challenging for nurses and nurse managers to identify what medical device training is required and when.

To develop and evaluate the use of an electronic medical device training passport to identify the training needs of nurses in intensive care units (ICUs).

A pilot study was conducted in a multi-unit critical care department in London, England, to determine if the passport could make it easier to identify ICU nurses' medical device training needs compared with existing practice. Nine participants were first asked to identify their needs using existing spreadsheets or paper records, then asked to identify them using the passport. The participants were also interviewed to identify their training requirements before and after using the passport. The data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively.

The electronic passport significantly improved identification of medical device training needs compared with paperwork or spreadsheets for all device groups, except for medical devices used on high dependency units ( P ≤0.005). However, there may be issues related to nurses' behaviours and expectations, particularly that staff do not always recognise their need for training.

The findings of this pilot study suggest that the use of an electronic medical device training passport has many benefits and could make it easier to identify ICU nurses' training needs in clinical practice.