As part of my quality improvement study at university, I developed and introduced an oxygen reference card that was shown to improve newly qualified clinical staffs' knowledge and confidence when using an oxygen cylinder.
The project's literature review captured that clinical staff may not have the memory recall to support them in clinical practice and, therefore, a lack of embedded knowledge, which could compromise care. It is paramount that users of oxygen cylinders have the knowledge to understand how to use a cylinder safely and to understand how to assess the remedial gas in the cylinder to support oxygen administration.
The study found that there is minimal training accessed to support staffs' knowledge and skill foundations for using cylinders.
The outcome of the study recommended that there needs to be better support for clinical staff to use cylinders within their pre/post training to be able to using the device correctly. Introducing a oxygen reference card that they could keep on them whilst at work is a useful tool to support decision-making when using the cylinder.
You can download the card from the attachment below.
Both NAMDET – National Association of Medical Device Educators and Trainers and Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management - NHS FOUNDATION supported the QI project.
