Continuing education medicine (CME) and multi-professional team: An “on-site” experience

CME for health professionals is a well established practice, but sharing of knowledge in inter-professional team still remain a difficult topic: a survey conducted in our clinic about nurses satisfaction on work showed this point as critical. In 2012 we introduced a multi-level customized education program for nurses working in the Respiratory Intermediate Intensive Care Unit (RIICU). To assess the feasibility of an on-site education programme for nurses working in RIICU, 4 teachers/tutors (2 Pneumologists, 1 Nurse, 1 Respiratory Physiotherapist), recognized as “experts”, were involved. In a one-year trial 11 nurses, divided into small groups of two/three people, attended to 4 interactive lessons (on PR, ventilators, tracheostomy and airway clearance) repeated every two months. In addition, each group performed a minimum of 2 practical sessions/week at bedside. A “knowledge needs” questionnaire (31 items) was administered before and 2 months after the educational period. CME customer satisfaction questionnaire was given at the end of the trial: 90% of participants give the best evaluation for all the items. Rate of correct answers in the knowledge questionnaire increased from 22,9±3,2 (73,9%) to 27,5±3,2 (88,9%, p This “on-site” programme showed to be feasible, cheap, little time consuming and well accepted. It could be a step forward in the individualization of CME, favoring the sharing of knowledge among professionals. Further investigations will provide more information on competences and quality improvements.