Instructors for on-the-job training of advanced paramedics - definition of competencies and development of a quality management tool for a "High Responsibility Organization".

Abstract

Objective: The psychological demands placed upon the emergency medical services, assures them of their place amongst High Responsibility Organizations. A high pressure to act and an irreversibility of situations are integral features of their workplaces. After the emergency services’ job profiles were restructured in Germany, the practical stage of paramedic training is now undertaken in these conditions. That is, they are trained by a supervising instructor whilst caring for critically ill patients. This paper aims to describe the requisite skills for such an instructor, formulate the associated competences as learning objectives, and develop a quality-measuring instrument for the description of training situations.Methods: The compilation of a competence catalogue was done via a two-step process: following a Delphi survey with an expert panel of practical trainers and trainees, a large cohort of parameters were validated in terms of their relevance. Those factors that formed scales together were identified.Results: After validating the results of the Delphi analysis, six scales (composed of 25 items in toto) were defined. They included the areas of "Training during times of action", "Training during periods of calm", "Background and practical relevance", "Character and personality traits", "Pedagogical competencies" and "Organizational behaviour".Conclusion: For the first time, a competency catalogue has been developed for instructors working in the emergency medical services from German-speaking countries. The catalogue focuses upon clinical training during the acute care of critically ill patients. The scales and items can be used for training-the-trainers, and also quality monitoring. Further research needs to focus on the application of the catalogue in clinical practice and evaluate the need for situational customization.