According to the American Heart Association, UC Health is the first hospital system in Greater Cincinnati to implement a systemwide adoption of the American Heart Association’s Resuscitation Quality Improvement (RQI®) program.
It is also among the first 500—out of 5,400 acute care hospitals—in the nation to do so.
RQI launched in July 2019 at UC Health, and the health system is already seeing benefits from its implementation.
“RQI is helping our staff achieve greater consistency and quality of CPR training,” said Patty Wilson, American Heart Association Training Center coordinator. “The RQI technology is truly groundbreaking. Research shows that CPR skills can decay in as quickly as three months, and the eSimulation from RQI helps provide a solution to this.”
At UC Health, RQI programs are mobile units that provide CPR simulations with high-tech medical dummies. Units are placed on several floors throughout the health system. This mobility provides convenience for staff so that they can sign up for courses that are close to where they work.
The technology-based mobile units also provide real-time analytical feedback, which verifies that healthcare providers are achieving high-quality CPR while not needing to take an all-day course.
UC Health providers practice CPR with RQI technology once a quarter now and can complete their training in 10-minute sessions. Implementing frequent CPR training sessions ensures healthcare providers are able to perform high-quality compressions that lead to better patient survival outcomes.
“There are unlimited benefits to RQI,” said Lori Rawlings, clinical education manager for Nursing. “Previously, our healthcare providers would have to be part of 12-hour courses, and an instructor would oversee the type of chest compressions a staff member would simulate. While this is helpful training, it can also lead to subjective feedback to someone’s resuscitation competency.”
THE BENEFITS OF RQI AND HOW IT WORKS*:
Presents realistic e-simulation patient cases.
Includes mobile simulation stations placed on care floors throughout the hospital.
Healthcare providers can refresh vital CPR skills in just minutes, retaining life-saving CPR skills and maintaining their course completion cards indefinitely.
Helps providers deliver competence-verified, high-quality CPR that leads to better patient outcomes.
Skills-sessions modules provide audio-visual coaching on critical components of high-quality CPR.
Data is archived in a learning management system used to track and document individual student performance.
*Source: The American Heart Association.
“We are consistently hearing positive feedback about RQI from our teams at UC Health,” said Amy Costanzo, PhD, director of the Center for Professional Growth and Innovative Practice. “First off, it is convenient. Second, the simulation-learning technology helps maintain high-quality skills. And, most importantly, RQI analytics confirm that CPR quality is improved, so it’s better for patient outcomes overall.”
The e-simulation technology gives healthcare providers a chance to practice treating patients in virtual, lifelike situations and receive immediate evidence-based feedback. The feedback is databased, which is used to document individual performance.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer this new technology to our teams,” Patty said. “It is an innovative teaching method that ensures our healthcare providers are best prepared to provide life-saving skills to patients when needed.”