Covid 19 Pandemic-Training of Healthcare Workers in Obtaining a Nasopharyngeal Swab: Our Experience.
Suma Susan MathewsLalee VargheseM C TrupthiNancy NaomiAjoy Mathew VarghesePublished in: Indian journal of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery : official publication of the Association of Otolaryngologists of India (2021)
One hundred and seventy eight health care workers were trained from May 2020 to January 2021. Three modules were designed to train the health care workers in the technique of obtaining a nasopharyngeal swab specimen.Training consisted of an instructional video on how to perform nasopharyngeal swabs and live demonstration followed by hands-on supervised training. The trainees included 30 doctors, 101 nurses, 31 respiratory therapists, 3 physiotherapists, 9 interns and 4 lab technicians. There were 39 male and 139 female trainees. After attending all 3 modules of training, they were confident and efficient in taking a non-traumatic nasopharyngeal swab. Good knowledge and adequate training is key to a good nasopharyngeal sampling for SARS CoV-2 testing.