Increasing Emergency Medicine Resident Utilization of the Fascia Iliaca Nerve Block Through an Early Education...

Ultrasound-guided nerve blocks are a core skill for emergency medicine (EM) physicians in the treatment of pain. Despite this, there is a dearth of education on the topic during EM residency training.

We implemented a 2-hour hands-on teaching session for the fascia iliaca nerve block (FINB) during orientation for 14 new EM interns. We assessed if this increased their confidence in performing the FINB, if they retained their knowledge based on a structured assessment of performing a simulated FINB at 0, 2, and 8 months, and if the number of FINBs performed increased compared to the previous year's intern class who did not receive the same structured educational teaching session.

Confidence levels of EM interns in performing the FINB increased after the hands-on session on a 1-5 scale from 1.69 to 2.93 (P<.001). Their performance and knowledge of the FINB based on a structured hands-on assessment showed a slight drop at 2 months and then remained constant at 8 months. There was an increase in the number of FINBs performed by the EM interns from two to 11 during their first year of training compared to the previous year's interns.

Implementing a hands-on FINB training session during intern orientation for EM residents increased their confidence in performing the procedure, showed retention of the taught knowledge at 8 months, and increased the number of FINB procedures performed during their first year of training.