Dublin Methodist Hospital Implements New Innovative Fetal Monitoring Educational Technology

 

Organization: Dublin Methodist Hospital
HESS Components Used: Fetal Monitor
Other Platforms Utilized: Standardized Patient, In Situ

The Story:

 

Jennifer Hood, BSN, RNC, C-EFM is a Clinical Nurse Educator specializing in Women's Health at Dublin Methodist Hospital. She is part of a team that engaged in a Basic Fetal Monitoring Course redesign to impact learning outcomes, increase clinical competence, and improve patient outcomes for all the newly hired OB nurses who are required to attend the course. The team identified that the primary weakness and/or opportunity for improvement in the existing course was the didactic lecture format of the course.

Making the Fetal Monitoring course as effective as possible was of significant importance to Dublin Methodist Hospital because Jennifer's research revealed that Electronic Fetal Monitoring (EFM) is the most ubiquitous tool of OB Nurses and that in the U.S., approximately 85% of laboring women will receive EFM during their hospitalization (Nageotte, et al., 2016) - and that the misinterpretation of EFM tracings or lack of appropriate intervention or communication are the most frequently cited elements in litigation or settlements (Kelly, et al., 2021).

The goal was to combine lecture for the first portion of the class with a transition to simulation for the second half by creating scenarios based on real clinical situations and enabling learners to follow through with all components during observation, followed by debrief. This enhancement to the course required the team to utilize technology to provide a moving, adaptable EFM tracing to allow learners to act accordingly.

The team conducted research to identify educational technology solutions that could meet the goals of the course redesign - and that's where the HESS comes in because, as HESS users know, the HESS Fetal Monitor simulator app portably and affordably provides a "moving, adaptable EFM tracing to allow learners to act accordingly."

The HESS Fetal Monitor app is not the only available technology that can provide an EFM tracing for educational purposes but after performing comparisons, the Dublin Methodist Hospital team concluded there was "No compatible device found that performed the same functions successfully." - as the HESS Fetal Monitor app did. The team actually performed a direct comparison with a SimMom and found that the "HESS outperformed SimMom due to ability to adapt to any clinical scenario, transport easily, and use with any available "patient".

OK..... the HESS Team knows that "better" is a relative term - and nobody is suggesting that the HESS Fetal Monitor app is a better high-end, high fidelity birthing simulator than the SimMom..... But when considering the educational objectives for the course, the required location for the course to be conducted, the skill level of the course instructor, the significantly lower costs of the HESS, and the portability of the HESS Fetal Monitor app (the SimMom is not feasible to use across the organization) - the HESS Fetal Monitor app was determined to be a BETTER solution!

Further advantages of the HESS Fetal Monitor app approach include the freedom to perform class in any venue available (classroom, patient room, Sim lab, critical access facility staff), not requiring a trained simulationist to be present, flexibility to adapt scenarios in the moment and the allowance for ongoing training for staff education refreshers.

The result is a successful Basic Fetal Monitoring Course redesign - affordably and portably adding simulation and active learning elements - to impact learning outcomes, increase clinical competence, and improve patient outcomes.

One other "educational" aspect that should be noted.... Much of the research and information in this story came from a paper titled "Implementing New Educational Technology" that Jennifer wrote for her "Integrating Technology into Nursing Education" class in pursuit of her Master's degree.

Yes, she got an "A".......      Congratulations Jennifer ...and Thank You!