Impact of Non-neurology Staff Stroke Education on Inpatient Brain Attack Activation Accuracy and Staff Confidence – A Single Center Study
Al Anoud Baddour1, Ana Dobson1, Corey Shayman1, Tyler Harman1, Veronica Moreno Gomez1, Jennifer Majersik1
1University of Utah
Objective:
We hypothesized that targeted stroke education to non-neurology providers will improve inpatient brain attack activation accuracy and provider confidence/knowledge assessed via a quality improvement study.
Background:
In-hospital strokes are associated with higher mortality rates and worse functional outcomes, in part due to delays in recognition, evaluation, and treatment. The inpatient literature assessing the impact of stroke education on non-neurology providers and on the accuracy of code strokes/brain attack (BA) activations is limited. It is imperative to have non-neurology providers better educated on recognition and management of acute inpatient stroke.
Design/Methods:
BA activations 17 months prior, during, and 6 months after education were identified via our comprehensive stroke database. Patient level data includes BA activation volumes, BA activations with radiographicallyconfirmed stroke (AIS/ICH), and interventions (EVT/IV lytics). Units most frequently activating BA were identified and education was conducted in the medical ICU.
Non-neurology providers selected for BA education included internal medicine (IM) residents, nurses, advanced practice providers, and attendings. Education topics included common stroke symptoms vs stroke mimics, inclusion & exclusion criteria for AIS interventions. The education does NOT discourage activation of BAs. Data collected included pre- and post-self-assessment survey of staff confidence/knowledge designed using the Likert scale and analyzed via paired T-Test analysis.
Results:
Prior to BA education, 20% of all inpatient BA activations had radiographic evidence of AIS/ICH. Education was completed with 79 learners, 50 of which completed both pre/post surveys and demonstrated significant improvement in provider confidence/knowledge (p-value <0.02). All education sessions will be completed prior to the 2026 AAN annual meeting resulting in a larger sample size for above data analysis and preliminary data on post-education BA accuracy.
Conclusions:
Preliminary data demonstrated MICU provider confidence and knowledge improved significantly after BA education. We anticipate this will translate to higher BA accuracy and suspect all in-patient providers would benefit from BA education.
Disclaimer: Abstracts were not reviewed by Neurology® and do not reflect the views of Neurology® editors or staff.