Education for Nurses on Thromboelastography to Inform Anticoagulation Therapy in Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Abstract

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) therapy is a growing and developing therapy in critical care medicine for patients that are in severe cardiovascular and/or pulmonary failure. This patient population is very complex, including complex coagulopathies. These coagulopathies are related to both the underlying cause and to the ECMO circuit itself. Current knowledge and available tools are quickly evolving while clinicians and researchers look for better ways to understand and treat this patient population. This rapidly changing care environment has not provided any standardized education for registered nurses (RNs) that are caring for these patients at the bedside. This DNP project attempts to close this gap in knowledge and provide digestible information for RNs to better the care that they provide to the ECMO patients in regard to coagulopathies. An education module based on the most current research and common practices was developed and shared with clinicians with a variety of backgrounds that care for ECMO patients. Their expert opinions were elicited to evaluate and provide the necessary feedback to ensure that the education would achieve closing this gap of knowledge. Finally, this module will be disseminated through publication to share with the critical care community.