Overview:

Spirometry is recommended by national and international guidelines as an indispensable tool to aid the diagnosis and monitoring of chronic airways disease.

The Spirometry Learning Module - Competency Assessment (SLM - CA) course provides health professionals with the expertise, practical skills and confidence necessary to obtain quality assured spirometry measurements and achieve competency in POC spirometry testing. It incorporates on-line educational resources, webinars, a practical skills workshop and subsequent ongoing evaluation of competency by experienced respiratory scientists. The SLM-CA is compliant with current national and international spirometry standards (ATS/ERS).

The SLM-CA is part of a suite of comprehensive educational and training resources (the Spirometry Learning Module or SLM), designed and developed by the SLM Development Group and the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network and facilitated by Chandlers Hill Surgery.

Schedule: (amended due to COVID-19 restrictions in 2020)

• Online education resources (approx. 5-6 hours learning)

• Webinar Part A (1.5 hours), Part B (1.5 hours) and Practical Skills Workshop (1.5 hours).

• Review of participant self-assessments via use of the SLM-Spirometry Assessment Tool (ongoing after Practical Skills Workshop)

*Total SLM-CA course duration is 12 months

See image of SLM-CA Overview & Schedule below

Who is it for?

Participants may include nurses, clinicians, scientists, health workers and healthcare providers who conduct spirometry testing from tertiary health, general practice and industrial workplaces in both metropolitan and regional, rural and remote settings.

Health Professional CPD points are available via self-recording.

Learning Outcomes

After successful completion of the SLM-CA course participants should have a good understanding of the following concepts:

• Indications for spirometry

• Physiology and pathophysiology of obstructive and restrictive ventilatory defects

• Definitions of the indices to be measured: FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC ratio & PEF

• Data represented on flow-volume curves and volume-time spirograms

• Use of predicted reference values

• How patient demographics relate to spirometry measurement

• Spirometer settings and technical considerations

• Quality Assurance concepts including calibration & verification of the spirometer device and use of Biological Controls

• Pre-test requirements including assessment of relevant contraindications, considerations for testing and potential complications

• Test performance including operator instructions for testing, ATS/ERS criteria relating to the acceptability of patient test performance, ATS/ERS criteria relating to the repeatability of test measurements, common causes of poor quality spirometry, trouble-shooting patient related issues and assessment of bronchodilator responsiveness

• Health service and Infection Control standards

• Pattern recognition of normal and abnormal flow-volume curves

• Differentiation between normal and abnormal spirometric values

• Case-based application of interpretative strategies

Webinars and Practical Skills Workshops

Participants are required to join at least one ‘SLM Part A Webinar’, one ‘SLM Part B Webinar’ and join / attend one ‘SLM Practical Skills Workshop’ within the 12-month SLM-CA training period.

Webinars are scheduled every 3 – 6 weeks with Zoom invitations sent to participants via email one week prior and again on the day of the Webinar.

*Participants can participate in multiple SLM Part A and B Webinars but can only participate in one SLM Practical Skills Workshop per 12-month SLM-CA course.

Please consider that the learning experience will be greatly enhanced if the SLM-CA on-line educational resources are viewed beforehand.

The SLM Webinar Part A and Part B dates for the remaining of 2020 are:

SLM Webinar Part A: 1.5 hours

• Why do spirometry?
• Basic Physiology
• Key concepts
• Patient testing & tips for coaching (Part 1)

DATES: Tuesday 1st September 2020: 6pm – 7.30pm

Second date to be announced.

*No registration is required – Zoom meeting invites will be sent prior.

SLM Webinar Part B: 1.5 hours

• Quality Assured spirometry
• How to set up spirometry in your health service
• Reviewing spirometry measurements (Part 1)
• Interpretation of spirometry

DATES: Wednesday 12th August 2020: 6pm – 7.30pm

Tuesday 20th October 2020: 6pm – 7.30pm

*No registration is required – Zoom meeting invites will be sent prior.

SLM Practical Skills Workshop: 1.5 hours

• Patient testing & tips for coaching (Part 2)
• Reviewing spirometry measurements (Part 2)
• How to submit self-assessments & use of the Spirometry Assessment Tool

Please note that attendance at the Practical Skills Workshop, Part C, requires completion of ALL on-line components and assessments.

SLM Practical Skills Workshops are either ‘Face-to-Face’ or ‘Virtual’.

Virtual SLM Practical Skills Workshops are designed primarily for regional, rural and remote participants who find it difficult to attend F-2-F sessions.

To adhere to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and the 1:5 trainer-to-participant ratio recommended by the 2017 ANZSRS Position Statement on Spirometry Training Courses, Practical Skills Workshops are currently limited to groups of no more than 5 participants.

*Participants are only permitted to participate in one Practical Skill Workshop per 12-month SLM-CA course

**The dates of these workshops are negotiated on an individual or group basis – registration details will be provided later.

Registrations are now open for SLM-CA courses in 2020

Please click on ‘Select Dates’ and select the date ‘31st December 2020’ to register and make payment.

Your registration will be confirmed immediately via the Eventbrite facility.

An “Registration Welcome” email will be sent in the first week of each month to provide details about access to the SLM-CA online educational resources.

Please use an individual email address to register. The use of generic workplace email addresses such as "nurse1@workplace" or "admin@workplace" will prevent successful enrolment on the LMS.

If you have been provided with a registration access code, then you will need to insert this in the “promo code” box when purchasing your “ticket”.For more information about this SLM-CA course or other Spirometry Learning Module resources, please contact Richard and Kerry:

• https://www.chandlershillsurgery.com.au/services-spirometry-training.htm

• Email: spirometrylearning@gmail.com

• Phone: 08 8381 2822 (leave a message for Kerry Hancock via reception)

Mr Richard Parsons, Senior Respiratory Scientist, CRFS

Dr Kerry Hancock, BMBS (Flin), FRACGP