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Evaluation of critical care providers' knowledge in basic mechanical ventilation management: An opportunity for improvement

Objectives: This investigation aims to evaluate the knowledge of critical care providers in mechanical ventilation (MV) management and to assess the impact of a 2-day educational package on their knowledge. Materials and Methods: Eighty-nine physicians and nurses attended a 2-day educational course about basic MV management. The basic MV course was conducted in February to June 2017 at Majmaah, Hail, and Arar, Saudi Arabia. Participants were part of a pre-MV course assessment and answered 12 items on a multiple choice questionnaire. After the course, participants repeated the same test (post-MV course assessment). Participants were asked to rate their knowledge of MV management on a scale of 1-10 (before and after the basic MV course). Results: Forty critical care providers (14 physicians and 26 nurses) completed the basic MV course. The participants' clinical experience, on average (±standard deviation), was 5.96 ± 4.6 years. Clinical experience favored physicians. The pre-MV course score for all participants was 4.7 ± 2.29 out of 12, while the post-MV course score was 5.65 ± 2.47. There was a significant statistical difference between pre- and post-MV assessment scores (P = 0.03). Differences between physicians and nurses were significant, on both pre-MV course assessment (P = 0.01) and post-MV course assessment (P = 0.006). There was significant correlation between clinical experience and preassessment scores (r = 0.37; P = 0.03). Conclusion: The present investigation shows that MV management knowledge of critical care providers in hospitals located in small cities is limited. Therefore, it is advisable that critical care providers engaged in continuous professional educational activities related to MV management.