Covid 19 Pandemic-Training of Healthcare Workers in Obtaining a Nasopharyngeal Swab: Our Experience

Mathews, Suma Susan; Varghese, Lalee; Trupthi, MC; Naomi, Nancy; Varghese, Ajoy Mathew

doi:10.1007/s12070-021-02849-6

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…However, COVID-testing is a relatively simple procedure requiring limited and relatively elementary knowledge and skills, which may indicate a short learning curve that combined with the standardized simulated model may have resulted in some level of ceiling effects. The good effect of a short simulation-based URTS training is also comparable to other studies with similar findings [21,22]. This indicates that URTS is a well-defined procedure where non-healthcare educated workers can perform URT samples comparably to experts if they receive focused and standardized training [23].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Valid and Reliable Assessment of Upper Respiratory Tract Specimen Collection Skills during the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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Proper specimen collection is the most important step to ensure accurate testing for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other infectious diseases. Assessment of healthcare workers’ upper respiratory tract specimen collection skills is needed to ensure samples of high-quality clinical specimens for COVID-19 testing. This study explored the validity evidence for a theoretical MCQ-test and checklists developed for nasopharyngeal (NPS) and oropharyngeal (OPS) specimen collection skills assessment. We found good inter-item reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.76) for the items of the MCQ-test and high inter-rater reliability using the checklist for the assessment of OPS and NPS skills on 0.86 and 0.87, respectively. The MCQ scores were significantly different between experts (mean 98%) and novices (mean 66%), p < 0.001, and a pass/fail score of 91% was established. We found a significant discrimination between checklist scores of experts (mean 95% score for OPS and 89% for NPS) and novices (mean 50% score for OPS and 36% for NPS), p < 0.001, and a pass/fail score was established of 76% for OPS and 61% for NPS. Further, the results also demonstrated that a group of non-healthcare educated workers can perform upper respiratory tract specimen collection comparably to experts after a short and focused simulation-based training session. This study, therefore, provides validity evidence for the use of a theoretical and practical test for upper respiratory specimens’ collection skills that can be used for competency-based training of the workers in the COVID-19 test centers.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Valid and Reliable Assessment of Upper Respiratory Tract Specimen Collection Skills during the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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“…During the COVID-19 outbreak, there was a shortage of well-trained healthcare providers available to collect nasopharyngeal specimens, resulting in a decrease in the quality of the specimens and false-negative results [ 5 , 6 ]. The use of a robotic sampling system has the potential to address this issue by standardizing the specimen collection process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of the safety, effectiveness, and usability of swab robot vs. manual nasopharyngeal specimen collection

Yu,

Hsieh,

Chen

et al. 2023

Heliyon

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“…The virus has been detected in numerous clinical specimens, including nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS), oropharyngeal swabs (OPS), nasal swabs (NS), and oral swabs (OS); as well as in sputum, urine, stools, and blood [ 9 , 10 ]. Current surveillance relies on established sampling techniques, such as the collection of NPS by trained healthcare workers (HCWs) [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. However, a shortage of HCWs has strained the NPS sampling system, especially when the incidence of infections increases rapidly [ 14 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance Analysis of Self-Collected Nasal and Oral Swabs for Detection of SARS-CoV-2

Lim

Baek²,

Park³

et al. 2022

Diagnostics

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the third highly pathogenic human coronavirus and is rapidly transmitted by infected individuals regardless of their symptoms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, owing to the dearth of skilled healthcare workers (HCWs) to collect samples for early diagnosis, self-collection emerged as a viable alternative. To evaluate the reliability of self-collection, we compared the virus detection rate using 3990 self-collected swabs and HCW-collected swabs, procured from the same individuals and collected immediately after the self-collection. The results of multiplex reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction revealed that the viral load in the HCW-collected swabs was marginally (18.4–28.8 times) higher than that in self-collected swabs. Self-collection showed no significant difference in sensitivity and specificity from HCW-collection (κ = 0.87, McNemar’s test; p = 0.19), indicating a comparable performance. These findings suggest that self-collected swabs are acceptable substitutes for HCW-collected swabs, and that their use improved the specimen screening efficiency and reduced the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCWs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Covid 19 Pandemic-Training of Healthcare Workers in Obtaining a Nasopharyngeal Swab: Our Experience

Cited by 3 publications

References 7 publications

Valid and Reliable Assessment of Upper Respiratory Tract Specimen Collection Skills during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Valid and Reliable Assessment of Upper Respiratory Tract Specimen Collection Skills during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Comparison of the safety, effectiveness, and usability of swab robot vs. manual nasopharyngeal specimen collection

Performance Analysis of Self-Collected Nasal and Oral Swabs for Detection of SARS-CoV-2

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