Tool Source sample Results/ main outcomes
Self assessment
Multiplechoice
Questionnaire
Core Curriculum course. The questions were chosen by the UM nurses based on common presentations to the A&E at KATH.
Observations
A competency-based assessment tool was designed based on the orientation booklet used at University of Michigan to guide clinical observations.
Open-ended scenarios
The scenarios answers were adapted from relevant emergency nursing
Textbooks, the Trauma nursing Core Curriculum, and personal experience .The goal of this section was to obtain a deeper understanding of the nurses’ knowledge base in emergency situations and to elucidate the steps that they take when treating patients.
Pilot testing
A pilot test of the MCQ was conducted with eighteen ED nurses
In the US before data was collected with Ghanaian nationals.
Wording of questions was also checked with a physician and nurse from Ghana. It was important t was important to ensure that to ensure that the questionnaire was , in terms of content and language, for Ghanaian nurses for whom English is an official language but was not necessarily their first language. Content was found to be valid the pilot testing and as a result of piloting no changes to the surveys were made.
Self-assessment was administered to KATH nurses by the study team
Over the span of the ten days they were onsite. This was not offered in a controlled setting and nurses were requested to complete it at their convenience.
MCQ
The nurse manager at KATH requested that participants attend a session where the MCQ was administered.
Observation
The research team completed a total of 45 h in the various sections of the emergency department observing practice patterns of nurses.
Each observer rotated through the various sections of the department, which are divided into treatment areas based on the Cape department Score and include Triage, Red, Yellow and Orange. The most time was spent observing the Red area, as this is where the critical patients are located, and Yellow as this area has the highest volume. Observations were recorded on the core curriculum checklist. Included
Observations were nursing assessment, use of nursing process , types of nursing interventions, patient and equipment types, medications use, and communication between nurses and physicians. Daily debriefing sessions included discussing themes that were observed And recorded by each member. During the analysis period, written Observations were read by all study team members and themes were extracted from these written records.