Out-of-hospital emergency care providers’ work and clinical skills in Finland: A follow-up study

Abstract

Objective: This follow-up study is part of a larger study on emergency medical services. Its purpose was to describe emergency care providers’ perceptions of their work, its challenges and their clinical competence. The study aimed at producing knowledge of the perceived influence of an educational intervention, to be used in developing emergency care providers’ further and updating education.
Methods: Data were collected from staff working in out-of-hospital emergency care of a hospital district in Finland using a questionnaire developed for this purpose. The results were analyzed statistically using SPSS for Windows 24.
Results: Over 90% of the respondents found that their work was interesting and provided sufficient challenges. The majority were also interested in continuous professional development. After the educational intervention, respondents found the work somewhat more challenging and slightly more strenuous both physically and mentally compared to the first survey. Respondents more commonly reported that new capacities were required at work and they rated their practical skills lower than in the first survey. However, work in a multiprofessional environment was found less challenging. Over 70% of the respondents planned to have further education in the near future. They rated their clinical skills as good, but slightly lower compared to the first survey.
Conclusions: The results regarding work, its challenges and self-rated clinical competence remained the same or were somewhat poorer after the educational intervention. The results help improve the education to meet the needs of emergency staff.