Development of a professional advancement model for perfusionists

BACKGROUND

Improvement in professional advancement opportunities may reduce turnover and improve retention for perfusionists. However, the current literature lacks examples of professional advancement models (PAMs) for perfusionists.

METHODS

This review looks at examples from other healthcare fields to provide the rationale and develop a framework for such a model.

RESULTS

The review results led to the development of a point-based PAM that included four levels: perfusionist I, II, III, and IV. Each level is associated with its own point requirement, experience level, and salary increase. Points can be acquired through four defined categories.

CONCLUSION

Perfusion programs needing professional advancement can use these results as a foundation for implementing a PAM for perfusionists.

Using Digital Biomarkers for Objective Assessment of Perfusionists' Workload and Acute Stress During Cardiac Surgery

The cardiac operating room (OR) is a high-risk, high-stakes environment inserted into a complex socio-technical healthcare system. During cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), the most critical phase of cardiac surgery, the perfusionist has a crucial role within the interprofessional OR team, being responsible for optimizing patient perfusion while coordinating other tasks with the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and nurses. The aim of this study was to investigate objective digital biomarkers of perfusionists' workload and stress derived from heart rate variability (HRV) metrics captured via a wearable physiological sensor in a real cardiac OR. We explored the relationships between several HRV parameters and validated self-report measures of surgical task workload (SURG-TLX) and acute stress (STAI-SF), as well as surgical processes and outcome measures. We found that the frequency-domain HRV parameter HF relative power - FFT (%) presented the strongest association with task workload (correlation coefficient: -0.491, p-value: 0.003). We also found that the time-domain HRV parameter RMSSD (ms) presented the strongest correlation with perfusionists' acute stress (correlation coefficient: -0.489, p-value: 0.005). A few workload and stress biomarkers were also associated with bypass time and patient length of stay in the hospital. The findings from this study will inform future research regarding which HRV-based biomarkers are best suited for the development of cognitive support systems capable of monitoring surgical workload and stress in real time.