The Effectiveness of a Staff Education Program on the Use of Continuous EEG With Patients in Neuroscience Intensive Care Units

Abstract

Approximately a third of patients in neuroscience intensive care units (ICUs) experience subclinical seizures and, as a result, are at higher risk for poor outcomes. The use of continuous electroencephalography (cEEG) monitoring can help nurses detect seizure activity and initiate early prevention. Nurse competency in the use of cEEG is important to facilitate effective bedside monitoring. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a staff educational program aimed at improving the knowledge of nurses in the use of cEEG monitoring in adults. A quasi-experimental pretest/posttest 1-group design was utilized. Neuroscience ICU registered nurses, whose experience ranged from 2 months to 24 years, participated in the study. Participants completed a pretest on seizure knowledge and the use of cEEG monitoring. Participants received a 4-hour educational session on the use of cEEG monitoring. Immediately after the program and again 1 month later, they completed a posttest. Test scores improved significantly from pretest to the first posttest (t = -15.093, p < .001). Although there was a slight decline in the mean score from the posttest to the 1-month follow-up, posttest scores were significantly better than the pretest score (t = -12.42, df = 44, p < .001). Whereas years of experience correlated positively to the pretest score, after the intervention, no such correlation was evident. The results demonstrated that an educational program improved the competency of nurses in the use of cEEG with adult patients in a neuroscience ICU and that this knowledge was sustained over time. Further research is needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this intervention in other settings.

Quantitative Continuous EEG: Bridging the Gap Between the ICU Bedside and the EEG Interpreter

“…Beginning at 18:00, there are multiple events with rhythmicity and increased EEG amplitude and frequency. Raw EEG confirmed that these were electrographic seizures literature has shown the feasibility of training neurocritical care nurses to recognize electrographic seizures on raw EEG, but further research is needed to demonstrate generalizability [23].…”

Continuous EEG monitoring in adults in the intensive care unit (ICU)

“…Training of the ICU healthcare team should not be confined to the recording technique, but also cover some aspects of continuous EEG analysis [66].…”

Consensus Statement on Continuous EEG in Critically Ill Adults and Children, Part II

“…At least high school diploma.If EEG Assistants are utilized, the center should have a written policy and procedure describing the types of tasks that can be performed, as well as requirements for training and determination of competency (Seiler, Fields et al 2012). …”