Continuing Education and Assessment

Continuing education for the transport team member will be based on:

• Sufficient scope and duration to ensure continued competency;

• Performance and findings from quality improvement activities and changes in technology and pharmacologic interventions;

• Identified or stated education requirements of the transport team member;

• Input and involvement of the transport team medical director; and

• The educational content identified by state or national organizations.

Continuing education will be appropriately documented in the employee's record and personnel file with regard to the content and scope of the program and the transport team member's successful completion of required annual competency.

All or a representative subset of transport cases should be reviewed routinely by the medical and program directors of the transport team. This review should also include presentations during team meetings with parti­cipation of all team members. A minimum number of neonatal-pediatric transports should be required to maintain skill levels. Periodic and recurrent experiences through instructional sites such as the delivery room, operating room, and simulator suite should be considered to maintain skills for use in the transport environment. Expectations for students and instructors regard­ing exposures and learning experiences should be elucidated before those experiences. Student and teacher should be aware of the specific purposes of the process and have an objective method to document experience, prog­ress, and deficiencies and to enact required corrective training.

Transport team members should be encouraged to validate competency through local and national professional certifications.

Selected Readings

Adams K, Scott R, Perkin RM, Langga L. Comparison of intubation skills between interfacility transport team members.

Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems. Accreditation Standards. 5th ed. Sandy Springs, SC: Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems; 2002 Davis PJ, Manktelow B, Bohin S, Field D. Pediatric trainees and the transportation of critically ill neonates: experience training and confidence. Acta Paediatr. 2001;90(9):1068-1072

Fazio RF, Wheeler DS, Poss WB. Resident training in pediatric critical care transport medicine: a survey of pediatric residency programs. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2000;16(3):166-169

King BR, Foster RL, Woodward GA, McCans K. Procedures performed by pediatric transport nurses: how “advanced” is the practice? Pediatr Emerg Care. 2001;17(6):410-413

King BR, Woodward GA. Procedural training for pediatric and neonatal transport nurses, part 1—training methods and airway training. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2001;17(6):461-464 King BR, Woodward GA. Procedural training for pediatric and neonatal transport nurses, part 2—procedures, skills, assessment, and retention. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2002;18(6):438-441 MacDonald MG, Gomez MA, eds. Guidelines for Air and Ground Transport of Neonatal and Pediatric Patients. 2nd ed. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; 1999 McCloskey KA. Transport team training. In: McCloskey KA, Orr RA, eds. Pediatric Transport Medicine. St Louis, MO: Mosby; 1995:100-107

National Association of Neonatal Nurses. Neonatal Nursing Transport Standards Guidelines for Practice. Des Plaines, IL: National Association of Neonatal Nurses; 1998