Evaluation of the effectiveness of a training programme for nurses regarding augmentative and alternative communication with intubated patients using Kirkpatrick's model: A pilot study.
Marzieh Momennasab, Fatemeh Mohammadi, Fereshteh DehghanRad and 1 others
PMID 36577744WHAT IT FOUND
Observed messages were understood completely in 66.7% of post-training communications, and boards or writing aids were used in 76.2%, after nurses received WhatsApp training and bedside AAC boards.
Key findings
01Nurses' knowledge of effective communication with intubated patients increased after the blended training programme.
02After training, observed messages were understood completely in 66.7% of communications, compared with 4.8% before.
03After training, boards or writing aids were used in 76.2% of communications, compared with 2.4% before.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a one-group pilot with no control group, so the changes cannot be separated from time, attention, or the observer's presence. Only 42 nurses were analysed after 3 stopped after the first module, and all came from two ICUs in one hospital. The short follow-up did not show whether nurses kept using AAC in routine practice. Patients' satisfaction, knowledge and behaviours were not measured. Only alert intubated patients with GCS 9 or higher and RASS between -3 and +3 were included, so effects in more sedated or cognitively impaired patients are unknown. The change in communication content was not statistically significant (p = 0.077).
Declared interests
Support came from the Vice-Chancellor for Research Affairs of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, and the authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that AAC boards improve patient outcomes. The study did not assess patients' satisfaction, knowledge or behaviours, and it had no control group. Nurses also received WhatsApp modules, a Persian communication board, a portable whiteboard, and periodic in-person follow-up, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.