THE S.T.A.B.L.E. TRANSPORT EDUCATION PROGRAM: ASSESSMENT OF TRANSPORTABILITY TO REGIONAL CENTERS IN THE UNITED STATES

Background: Appropriate and timely pre-transport stabilization of sick neonates will reduce morbidity and mortality, therefore community hospital caregivers must be prepared for this contingency. The S.T.A.B.L.E. Transport Education Program is a neonatal outreach education program that was developed for community hospital staff in the care of a sick infant in the period between resuscitation of the newborn and arrival of the transport team. The Program was developed between 1991 and 1996 and made commercially available in May 1996. The S.T.A.B.L.E. Program does not replace communication and consultation with the tertiary hospital, but provides referral hospital staff with a concise and directive tool to help organize the pre-transport stabilization of the sick neonate. The mnemonic S.T.A.B.L.E. was developed to help with organization of the stabilization process and to assist recall. S.T.A.B.L.E. stands for Sugar, Temperature, Artificial breathing, Blood pressure, Lab work, and Emotional support for the family. The extensive pre-transport stabilization content built around the mnemonic is presented to the learner as a one day didactic-interactive seminar. Evaluation includes cognitive knowledge assessment measured through pre and post testing. Participants opinions on acceptability, efficiency and effectiveness of the program are assessed through a Likert scale. As part of the program development a pilot study (IRB approved) was conducted involving 49 (25 RN & 24 non-RN) participants from 4 community hospitals. The one-day seminars were presented by the author of the S.T.A.B.L.E. Program. The pilot study showed significant change in pre and post test scores and high scores for acceptability, efficiency and effectiveness (8 of 29 sample questions) of the program (see below). Following pilot testing, the program was commercially distributed. The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess if the results achieved in the pilot study, when taught by the author, could be generalized to a larger population when the program was presented by many instructors in many regions. Methods: In implementing the S.T.A.B.L.E. program the regional outreach educators were encouraged to return pre and post test scores and program evaluations. Means and standard deviations were calculated on pre and post-test scores and the evaluation questions. Results: Six programs returned data [Tests N=423 (355 RN; 9 MD, 39 RT, 20 LPN); Evaluations N=350]. Pilot and outreach educators gr