Implementing Healthcare Professionals' Training During Covid-19: A Pre And Post-Test Design For Simulation Training

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has imposed a new reality that presents several challenges for healthcare professionals. The main challenge has been the lack of proper training in relation to an unknown disease.OBJECTIVE: To investigate healthcare professionals' acquisition of knowledge of a new airway management protocol for COVID-19 through their participation in simulation training.DESIGN AND SETTING: Pre and post-test study with purpose sampling, carried out in a tertiary-level hospital in the city of Campinas, state of Sao Paulo, Brazil.METHODS: This was a cross-sectional pre and post-test intervention among healthcare professionals working in the intensive care unit and emergency department of a large hospital. The training was carried out using an in situ simulation scenario and the participants answered pre and post-tests consisting of a 20-item questionnaire about the new protocol.RESULTS: The paired-sample t test demonstrated that there was a significant increase in test score (t = -19.06; P < 0.001), from before the training (M = 8.62; standard deviation, SD = 3.53) to after the simulation training (M = 17.02; SD = 1.76).CONCLUSIONS: The simulated training had a positive impact on the healthcare professionals' acquisition of the COVID-19 protocol. We also demonstrated that in situ simulation training was an efficient tool for implementing new protocols, thus bringing benefits to healthcare systems, professionals and patients.