69 Development and Evaluation of a 2-day Outreach Course to Meet Burn Educational Needs of Providers in Remote and Rural Areas

Abstract

Burn care outreach education is essential to improving regional care and is required for verification by the American Burn Association. Our center has developed a 2-day course targeting remote and rural providers in our region. The curriculum is tailored to providers who have requested burn education extending beyond the first 24 hours following injury. This report describes the development process of our program and learners’ evaluations to date. In 2012, our center’s education committee developed a comprehensive burn outreach educational program. In addition to core burn stabilization knowledge, key focus areas for didactic lectures included burns that may not warrant immediate transfer, pain and itch, burn therapy needs, and community reintegration. Skills stations on fluid resuscitation, wound care for minor burns, and transfer logistics rounded out the 2-day course. We measured course effectiveness by averaging learners’ feedback ratings in the following 5 categories: initial assessment, injury-specific learning, logistics of referral, aspects of burn recovery, and overall course evaluation. We also performed qualitative content analysis of open-text feedback for take-home points/change in practice impact. We have taught 3 courses in remote/rural areas over a 3-year period, with a total enrollment of 319 learners, including 26 physicians and extenders, 190 nurses, and 60 pre-hospital personnel in total. Learners’ feedback ratings were excellent in all categories (Table). We identified major themes among 350 received comments on take-home points/change in practice impact: better assessment and triage based on injury severity (24%), improved knowledge in initial wound management (27%), and better grasp of fluid resuscitation and titration (19%). For burn knowledge beyond the first 24 hours, participants highlighted improvements in understanding of burn therapy (10%) and pain management (6%). A few participants requested more focus on pre-hospital care and injury prevention. Our Burn Outreach program was designed to address care issues of remote and rural providers in our region. Learners’ feedback has highlighted strengths of the program but has also helped us identify opportunities for improvement in future outreach classes. An outreach program that addresses care beyond the first 24 hours can be useful for remote and rural providers who are non-experienced burn providers. Likert Scale: This program met my needs in the following category (1=Strongly Disagree, 4=Strongly Agree) Likert Scale: This program met my needs in the following category (1=Strongly Disagree, 4=Strongly Agree)