Specific Training Improves the Detection and Management of Patient-Ventilator Asynchrony

BACKGROUND: Patient -ventilator asynchrony is common in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation. The proportion of health-care professionals capable of identifying and effectively managing different types of patient -ventilator asynchronies is limited. A few studies have developed specific training programs, but they mainly focused on improving patient -ventilator asynchrony detection without assessing the ability of health-care professionals to determine the possible causes. METHODS: We conducted a 36-h training program focused on patient -ventilator asynchrony detection and management for health-care professionals from 20 hospitals in Latin America and Spain. The training program included 6 h of a live online lesson during which 120 patient -ventilator asynchrony cases were presented. After the 6-h training lesson, health-care professionals were required to complete a 1-h training session per day for the subsequent 30 d. A 30 -question assessment tool was developed and used to assess health-care professionals before training, immediately after the 6-h training lecture, and after the 30 d of training (1 -month follow-up).RESULTS: One hundred sixteen health-care professionals participated in the study. The median (interquartile range) of the total number of correct answers in the pre -training, post -training, and 1 -month follow-up were significantly different (12 [8.75-15], 18 [13.75-22], and 18.5 [14-23], respectively). The percentages of correct answers also differed significantly between the time assessments. Study participants significantly improved their performance between pre -training and post -training (P < .001). This performance was maintained after a 1 -month follow-up (P 5 .95) for the questions related to the detection, determination of cause, and management of patient -ventilator asynchrony. CONCLUSIONS: A specific 36-h training program significantly improved the ability of health-care professionals to detect patient -ventilator asynchrony, determine the possible causes of patient -ventilator asynchrony, and properly manage different types of patient -ventilator asynchrony.