Training activity information
Details
Undertake physical quality assurance of diagnostic equipment, report the findings and make recommendations
Type
Entrustable training activity (ETA)
Evidence requirements
Evidence the activity has been undertaken by the trainee repeatedly, consistently, and effectively over time, in a range of situations. This may include occasions where the trainee has not successfully achieved the outcome of the activity themselves. For example, because it was not appropriate to undertake the task in the circumstances or the trainees recognised their own limitations and sought help or advice to ensure the activity reached an appropriate conclusion.
Reflection at multiple timepoints on the trainee learning journey for this activity.
Reflective practice guidance
The guidance below is provided to support reflection at different time points, providing you with questions to aid you to reflect for this training activity. They are provided for guidance and should not be considered as a mandatory checklist. Trainees should not be expected to provide answers to each of the guidance questions listed.
Before action
What does success look like?
- Identify what is expected of you when undertaking physical quality assurance of diagnostic equipment, reporting findings, and making recommendations.
- Consider how the learning outcomes apply, specifically concerning preparing equipment and the environment. Success involves demonstrating the ability to appraise calibration, quality control, maintenance, and fault-finding in a range of equipment.
- Discuss with your training officer to gain clarity on expectations for performing QA and reporting.
- Clarify with your training officer what constitutes successful reporting of findings and the specific criteria for making recommendations regarding equipment maintenance.
What is your prior experience of this activity?
- Think about what you already know about performing physical quality assurance (QA), such as calibrating equipment or calculating statistical QA data.
- Consider possible challenges you might face in identifying deviations, reporting findings accurately, or formulating effective recommendations for equipment maintenance, and think about how you might handle them.
- Recognise the scope of your own practice; know when you will need to seek advice or help if you encounter complex equipment malfunctions or unusual QA results.
- Acknowledge how you feel about embarking on this training activity, especially regarding the precision and attention to detail required for QA procedures.
- If previous experience involved calibrating a mouth pressure meter, consider the challenge of identifying a deviation in lung function equipment and plan how to accurately report findings and recommendations.
What do you anticipate you will learn from the experience?
- Consider the specific skills you want to develop in performing precise physical QA procedures and interpreting statistical data.
- Identify specific insights you hope to gain into the critical role of QA in ensuring accurate diagnostic investigations and patient safety.
- Focus on mastering the skill of calculating the mean and standard deviation of biological control quality assurance data accurately.
What additional considerations do you need to make?
- Review actions identified from previous experiences related to equipment handling, data analysis, or reporting.
- Identify important information you need to consider, such as risk management principles and specific QA protocols for the diagnostic equipment you will be assessing.
- Review the departmental QA protocols to ensure adherence to established procedures for physical quality assurance.
In action
Is anything unexpected occurring?
- Are you noticing anything surprising or different from what you anticipate whilst performing the QA procedure or reporting the findings?
- Are you encountering situations such as:
- Technical difficulties leading to poor signal quality e.g., pressure transducer drift or unexpected fluctuation in biological control quality assurance data despite initial setup checks?
- The equipment exhibiting an unexpected abnormal recording e.g., calibration error that is difficult to resolve through standard troubleshooting?
- A complex equipment malfunction that requires urgent action and is beyond initial fault-finding steps?
How are you reacting to the unexpected development?
- How is this impacting your actions? For example, are you responding to the situation appropriately? Are you adapting or changing your technical troubleshooting approach in the moment?
- Consider the steps you are taking in the moment, such as:
- Rapidly re-zeroing the system or adjusting the calibration setup to resolve drift or waveform issues.
- Alerting the team immediately to significant equipment changes or potential malfunctions that could compromise diagnostic tests.
- Seeking immediate advice from a senior colleague regarding the interpretation of an unusual QA finding or complex equipment fault.
- How are you feeling in that moment? For instance, are you finding it difficult to interpret complex equipment data while troubleshooting? Is it affecting your confidence in maintaining accurate quality assurance?
What is the conclusion or outcome?
- Identify how you are working within your scope of practice. For example, are you successfully restoring signal quality or resolving minor calibration issues? Or are you needing support because the uncertainty regarding equipment integrity requires senior sign-off?
- Identify what you are learning as a result of the unexpected development. For example, are you mastering efficient troubleshooting techniques for pressure transducers or learning a more effective verification checklist for preparing devices?
On action
What happened?
- Begin by summarising the key points of the experience of undertaking physical quality assurance (QA) of diagnostic equipment, reporting findings, and making recommendations.
- Consider specific events, actions, or interactions that felt important during the QA process, reporting, or recommendation, including your own feelings.
- Detail the QA procedures followed, the specific findings reported, such as fluctuations in biological control quality assurance data, and any recommendations made regarding equipment maintenance.
- Include any ‘reflect-in-action’ moments where you had to adapt to the situation as it unfolded, for instance, troubleshooting a pressure transducer drift or adapting your reporting approach due to a non-standard reading.
- Describe immediately alerting the senior staff to a significant calibration error that required urgent action to prevent compromised diagnostic testing.
How has this experience contributed to your developing practice?
- Identify what learning you can take from this experience regarding performing physical quality assurance.
- What strengths did you demonstrate e.g., technical execution, adherence to protocol? What skills and/or knowledge gaps were evident e.g., identifying equipment issues or formulating effective recommendations?
- Assess your strength in performing the QA procedure versus a knowledge gap in accurately calculating the mean and standard deviation of biological control quality assurance data.
- Compare this experience against previous engagement with similar QA activities. Were any previously identified actions for development achieved? Has your practice in conducting QA, reporting findings, or making recommendations improved?
- Identify any challenges you experienced e.g., ambiguous QA results, difficulties with equipment, unclear reporting requirements and how you reacted to these. Did this affect your ability to deal with the situation effectively? Were you able to overcome the challenges?
- Identify anything significant about the activity. Did you need to seek advice or clarification on QA protocols or equipment specifications? Did you need to escalate issues to ensure patient safety or compliance within your scope of practice?
- Acknowledge any changes in your own feelings now that you are looking back on the experience.
What will you take from the experience moving forward?
- Identify the actions or ‘next steps’ you will now take to support the assimilation of what you have learned, including from any feedback you have received about your skills at undertaking a physical QA. What feedback have you had about your report-writing skills following the QA and your ability to make recommendations?
- What will you do differently next time you undertake physical QA? Has anything changed in terms of what you would do if you were faced with a similar situation again?
- Plan to specifically review risk management principles and local QA protocols to improve responsiveness to urgent equipment issues.
- Do you need to practise any aspect of this activity further to improve your proficiency?
Beyond action
Have you revisited the experiences?
- Have you reviewed your actions from your previous reflections for this activity? What actions did you identify to improve your methodology, accuracy in reporting findings, or effectiveness in making recommendations e.g., calibrating a mouth pressure meter used for muscle function studies? Have you implemented these actions, and are you now able to consistently perform thorough QA, report findings precisely, and provide actionable recommendations?
- Did exploring different approaches to troubleshooting or reporting QA issues with others provide new insights into maintaining equipment integrity? Such as discussing experiences related to calculating the mean and standard deviation of biological control quality assurance data with peers to refine statistical reporting.
How have these experiences impacted upon current practice?
- How will the depth of your understanding of equipment QA, reporting, and recommendations support your readiness for practical assessments, such as those focused on calibration or discussing quality control data?
- How has your practice in equipment QA matured over time? Are you more proactive in identifying potential issues, more efficient in your QA procedures, or more astute in recognising when equipment issues are beyond your technical scope and require specialist intervention?
- What transferable skills did you develop through this activity? E.g. technical verification and adherence to protocol developed here to improve the safety and efficiency of other procedural support tasks.
- Identify clear actions for continued development in the area of quality assurance. E.g. planning actions to review risk management principles related to equipment malfunction and safety considerations for staff and patients.
Relevant learning outcomes
| # | Outcome |
|---|---|
| # 1 |
Outcome
Prepare equipment and the environment in order to undertake advanced respiratory diagnostic investigations. |