Clinical Competency in Pulse Oximetry among Medical Professionals and Nursing Personnel in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Pulse oximetry is used for monitoring of patient care with early and reliable detection of hypoxemia. Inadequate knowledge amongst medical and nursing personnel can lead to reduced patient safety . Aim: To assess competency in pulse oximetry among the residents and nursing personnel. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital, Karamsad, Anand, Gujarat, India. The survey had 34 questions based on principles and correct interpretation of pulse oximetry. Data were entered into the Android mobile devices. Descriptive analysis, univariate analysis, and Student's t-test were used. Results: A total of 264 subjects participated in the study-155 nursing personnel and 109 residents. The number of correct responses was low overall, with a mean (SD;CI) of 13.76 (2.56; 13.45-14.07) out of 26 for the “True/False” questions; and a mean (SD;CI) of 3.27 (1.57; 3.08-3.56) out of 8 for the “Multiple Choice” questions. The overall score of residents was significantly higher than nursing personnel (p<0.001). No significant difference was observed to be made by any formal training, work experience and working in acute care setting. Conclusion: There is marked deficiency in the knowledge of pulse oximetry in the healthcare professionals. Strategies directed at improving the competency correct interpretation of pulse oximetry are urgently needed, to improve patient care and safety.

Keywords

• knowledge
• nurses
• residents
• saturation