Failure of a brief educational program to improve interpretation of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure tracings.

Abstract

To determine whether a brief educational program can reduce variability of interpretation of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure (PAOP) tracings. Prospective, observational study. Twenty-three intensive care nurses and 18 physicians. Participants interpreted PAOP tracings before and 1 week after receiving a single, brief educational session and/or written materials ("in-service") designed to reduce interobserver variability of PAOP interpretation. Differences between two reference values before and after in-service (mean population and Chief of Critical Care's readings) were compared for both groups. There were no significant differences in the variabilities in PAOP interpretations before and after in-service in either group. We conclude that this specific educational program was ineffective in reducing variability of interpretation of PAOP tracings. These data suggest that more comprehensive educational tools and/or sustained programs may be required to improve performance of critical care personnel in PAOP interpretation.