Does a Simulated Stethoscope Complement Cardiopulmonary Knowledge and Confidence in Doctor of Physical Therapy Students

Nova Southeastern University, Davie, Florida, USA

Objective. The purpose of this study is to ascertain if the addition of a simulated stethoscope into the cardiopulmonary lab session will improve Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) student cardiopulmonary assessment knowledge and confidence in auscultation and identification of heart and lung sounds. Background. Literature review indicates that utilizing a simulated stethoscope in the skills laboratory setting in healthcare profession education had positive impacts on cardiopulmonary skill acquisition and student confidence. Methods. The study was conducted on volunteered DPT students in year two (DPT2) and year three (DPT3) of the program. All students completed a 12-question multiple-choice pre-test and confidence survey related to cardiopulmonary assessment. In addition, DPT2 students attended a one-hour cardiopulmonary lab session (intervention) which included practicing cardiopulmonary assessment utilizing simulated stethoscopes. At the conclusion of the intervention, DPT2 students completed a post-test and confidence survey. Results. Data analysis is currently under review. Forty-eight DPT3 students completed a multiple-choice test and confidence survey. Thirty-nine DPT2 students completed the pre and post intervention test and survey. A comparative analysis of all the data collected from the multiple-choice questions will be done using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. All confidence survey responses will be analyzed with descriptive statistics. Initial analysis indicates second-year students showed statistically significant improvements in test scores after training. They also demonstrated increased confidence from baseline in several of the areas covered during the simulation. Conclusion. This study looks to validate that incorporating a simulation-based learning (SBL) cardiopulmonary auscultation activity into the DPT curriculum would improve the DPT student’s cardiopulmonary auscultation assessment skill acquisition. Grants. This study was unfunded.