Feasibility of a Skills Based Limited Critical Care Cardiac Ultrasound Course for Acute Care Nurse Practitioners

Critical care ultrasound (CCU) is a skill that is considered standard care for a patient requiring medical care in an intensive care unit (ICU). Despite organizations supporting the use of CCU by all providers in the ICU, no organizations (including nursing organizations) have statements or training programs that include acute care nurse practitioners (ACNPs) as providers who can perform and interpret CCU. This purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of a Skills Based Limited Critical Care Cardiac Ultrasound (SBLCCU) Course in which basic LCCU knowledge and skill concepts are taught to ACNPs who currently work in a surgical ICU setting. This feasibility study examined whether participation in the Skills Based Limited Critical Care Cardiac Ultrasound Course for ACNPs improves knowledge level and clinical ability to conduct and interpret LCCU for the specific clinical question of measuring stroke volume and cardiac output. Knowledge was evaluated using a multiple-choice test that was taken pre-education, day of education, and post-education. Clinical ability of the ACNP to obtain adequate views was examined as well as the ability of the ACNP to calculate stroke volume and cardiac output. It is feasible to teach ACNPs the skill of LCCU for obtaining adequate cardiac views and for the evaluation of stroke volume and cardiac output. A one-day, eight-hour design is feasible to introduce basic CCU skills, just as some physicians have also learned CCU. ACNPs need support from trained CCU personnel to learn and sustain this skill. However, more inquires examining ACNP LCCU education need to be conducted before these results can be generalized.