Teaching Neonatal Emergency Umbilical Venous Access to Untrained Medical Staff: A Pilot Study Using Video Instruction and Real Umbilical Cords

Abstract

Background: Establishing intravenous access in newborns in an emergency situation is a challenge even for well-trained neonatologists. As not all hospitals have a neonatology department, other specialists such as anaesthesiologists and obstetricians must also be able to quickly establishing venous access. Consequently, there is a need for teaching strategies that can be used for a large group of people. Aim: To evaluate the applicability and the acceptance of a teaching method for umbilical venous access that can be implemented in hospitals with obstetric departments following the principles of simulation-based learning. Methods: Single-center cross-over pilot-study with video-based teaching of medical students using a model with fresh umbilical cords. The volunteers performed three techniques: standard umbilical cord cut-umbilical button cannula (S-EUC), lateral incision-umbilical button cannula (L-EUC) and standard umbilical cord cut-umbilical catheter (S-UC). Participants’ acceptance of the teaching method was evaluated using Likert-scale. Results: The video teaching was considered as easy to learn and understand for all three techniques. After practicing on the model, most participants believed that they could successfully apply at least one of the techniques if faced with a real emergency situation. Subjects were able to perform the techniques in similar timescales to those published in the literature for the standard technique (S-UC). Conclusion: The teaching method combining video learning and practical training on real umbilical cords, is suitable for teaching venous access in newborns even for untrained personnel. The model can be replicated using materials every obstetrics department has at hand.