Do health professionals on respiratory wards know how to use inhalers?

Background: Correct inhaler technique is crucial in the management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Little is known about the feasibility of training hospital health professionals and respiratory inpatients in the correct use of inhalers.

Aim: To evaluate health professionals' baseline inhaler techniques on a respiratory ward; to assess the impact of training on their inhaler techniques; and to evaluate the impact of the training on service delivery to respiratory inpatients.

Method: Study conducted on the respiratory ward of a major New South Wales metropolitan hospital with a focus on training health professionals on correct inhaler techniques in four phases over 6 months.

Results: Prior to training, none of the pharmacists (n = 11) or nurses (n = 16) demonstrated correct inhaler techniques. Post training, significantly more pharmacists and nurses demonstrated correct inhaler techniques. Post training, there was a statistically significant increase in the number of respiratory inpatients who had their inhaler techniques assessed. This increase was sustained over 6 months.

Conclusion: Hospital pharmacists and respiratory nurses require training in the correct use of inhalers. Post training, more respiratory inpatients had their inhaler techniques checked by pharmacists and nurses.