Healthcare Professionals' Electroencephalography Competency: A Disconnect Between Self-Assessment and Objective...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Medical Education

Background:

• High-quality electroencephalography (EEG) relies on competent healthcare professionals (HCPs).
• Understanding HCPs' subjective and objective EEG competence is crucial for targeted education and training development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze healthcare professionals' subjectively and objectively assessed electroencephalography (EEG) competence.
• To identify competence needs for developing future EEG education and training programs.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with HCPs in Finnish university hospital clinical neurophysiology departments.
• The EEG Competence instrument, comprising self-assessment and knowledge test components, was utilized for data collection.
• Participants included 34 registered nurses and 31 laboratory technologists (N=65, 81% response rate).

Main Results:

• Self-assessment scores were highest for patient observation (mean 4.6) and lowest for EEG theoretical knowledge (mean 3.9).
• In the knowledge test, 73.8% of respondents answered all questions correctly.
• Positive correlations were found between age, work experience, job satisfaction, and self-assessed EEG competence. Familiarity with EEG guidelines, training, and independent study of EEG literature correlated with better performance.

Conclusions:

• Registered nurses and laboratory technologists exhibit high levels of subjectively and objectively assessed EEG competence.
• Further refinement of the EEG competence instrument and psychometric validation are necessary.
• Additional research is required to comprehensively assess HCP competence in the EEG diagnostic process.