Aims and objectives:
To provide an education programme for ward based staff at United Lincolnshire hospitals NHS Trust around weight- bearing status and the issues and dangers of poor adherence.
Each workshop has four clinically relevant aims.
Measures:
Participants provided with a pre and post workshop questionnaire.
An understanding of what general knowledge people had about weight- bearing status pre- workshop is gathered.
Reduction in members of staff expressing concerns about having never been taught about the meaning of weight bearing status.
What I have done:
I first piloted my workshop and the questionnaires in a Physiotherapy Assistant Training Programme, this allowed me to tailor the questions appropriately and ensure information delivered was clear and concise.
I then ran four training sessions for the staff on the ward.
I made a notice board on Shuttleworth Ward so that information is readily available - especially to those who could not attend teaching due to working night shifts etc.
I have also made the weight-bearing status alert stars to go on patient back of bed boards so that patients who are not fully weight-bearing can be easily identified. This is to help keep our patients and staff safe.
Tools used:
Benefits Realisation Plan.
SMART goal setting.
PDSA cycle.
5 Whys.
Results:
Pre- workshop only 28% of participants felt they had a lot of confidence mobilising patients with an altered weight-bearing status, this is compared to 78% post attendance.
17% of participants felt they had had a lot of training around mobilising patients with an altered weight-bearing status pre-workshop, compared with 67% post workshop.
33% of participants felt they had a lot of understanding around the risks of adhering to weight–bearing status pre-workshop, compared to 94% post workshop.
Next steps:
My intention is that these sessions will be held again in the future to ensure that new orthopaedic teams member have the opportunity to attend training.
The sessions proved so popular that the Senior OT and I plan to put on a rolling programme of training sessions on topics identified by the ward staff.
Elizabeth Elliott, Physiotherapist