Level of Competence in Clinical Skills of Medical Officers Working in the Accident and Emergency Departments of District Headquarter Hospitals

Abstract

To assess the competence in clinical skills of the medical officers (MOs) working in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Departments of District Headquarter Hospitals (DHQH). Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: DHQHs of Jhang and Sahiwal, in the month of December, 2008. Methodology: A questionnaire regarding 14 basic clinical skills applied in patient care in A&E Department was prepared with the help of district specialists, MOs and the nursing staff working in DHQHs. The responses were recorded by using modified Likert scale at seven levels of competence. Four respondents were asked to assess the competence of each MO: MO him/herself; a peer of the MO; consultant physician/surgeon; nurse working in the same department. The results were computed and analysed by using statistical software SPSS version 15Results: In DHQH Sahiwal the collective mean of the level of competence of clinical skills by all the respondents (n=15) was highest for focused history (5.64 out of 7) and lowest for chest intubation (3.15 out of 7). In DHQH Jhang the collective mean of the level of competence of clinical skills by all respondents (n=21) was highest for uretheral catheterization (5.20/7) and lowest for Cervical spine immobilization (3.18/7). There was no significant difference in perceptions of different groups regarding level of skill for a particular doctor. Conclusion: The level of competence in clinical skills of MOs working in the A&E department of DHQHs is suboptimal and needs to be improved urgently to avoid unnecessary mortality and morbidity.