A Virtual Community of Practice: An International Educational Series in Pediatric Neurocritical Care

Abstract

Pediatric neurocritical care (PNCC) is a rapidly growing field. Challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic on trainee exposure to educational opportunities involving direct patient care led to the creative solutions for virtual education supported by guiding organizations such as the Pediatric Neurocritical Care Research Group (PNCRG). Our objective is to describe the creation of an international, peer-reviewed, online PNCC educational series targeting medical trainees and faculty. More than 1600 members of departments such as pediatrics, pediatric critical care, and child neurology hailing from 75 countries across six continents have participated in this series over a 10-month period. We created an online educational channel in PNCC with over 2500 views to date and over 130 followers. This framework could serve as a roadmap for other institutions and specialties seeking to address the ongoing problems of textbook obsolescence relating to the rapid acceleration in knowledge acquisition, as well as those seeking to create new educational content that offers opportunities for an interactive, global audience. Through the creation of a virtual community of practice, we have created an international forum for pediatric healthcare providers to share and learn specialized expertise and best practices to advance global pediatric health.

Knowledge and Practice Gaps in Pediatric Neurocritical Care Nursing: Lessons Learned From a Specialized Educational Boot Camp

“…Our results suggest that specialized PNCC knowledge is novel and unique to the degree that neither CCRN certification nor years of experience are adequate to deliver this relevant expertise. Nursing competencies in PNCC have been proposed, with consideration to ENLS, the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, and trauma nursing certifications, but there remains no interorganizational certification or standard as to what knowledge base is required (8, 10). Further efforts in defining standard content and the most effective vehicles for delivering education are needed.…”

“…The distribution of PNCC programs throughout the United States, however, is limited. Although the benefits of specialty nursing have been proposed, standardized training of PNCC nurses is few and not systematically assessed (8)(9)(10)(11).…”