Point-of-Care Ultrasound in the Emergency Department: Training, Perceptions, Applications, and Barriers from...

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a valuable tool that assists in diagnosis and management of patients in the emergency department (ED) while being cost-efficient and without the use of ionizing radiation. To discern the opinions and perceptions of ED staff about POCUS applications and barriers, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of employees of 12 EDs in North Texas.

Participants completed a 20-item online survey about POCUS with questions pertaining to four domains: (1) employee and training information, (2) perceived benefits, (3) common applications, and (4) barriers to use. Out of 805 eligible ED employees, 103 completed the survey (16.1% response rate).

The results indicated a generally positive perception of POCUS among all employee types. Physician had significant exposure and training of POCUS than non-physician group ( p < 0.001). Physicians tend to find cardiac assessments more useful for clinical management than non-physicians (47% vs. 23%, p = 0.01), while non-physicians find soft tissue/abscess assessments more useful (27% vs. 9%, p = 0.01).

The most significant barriers to POCUS use were time constraints for physicians and a lack of training for non-physician employees. Our study provides valuable insights into the perceptions of multiple ED professionals, serving as a foundation for promoting POCUS use in the ED.