Multi-modal Educational Curriculum to Improve Richmond Agitation-sedation Scale Inter-rater Reliability in Pediatric Patients

INTRODUCTION: The Richmond Agitation-sedation Scale (RASS) is a reliable and valid scale for assessing sedation in critically ill pediatric patients. This investigation evaluates the inter-rater reliability of the RASS in mechanically ventilated pediatric patients before and after an educational intervention. METHODS: This prospective, interventional quality improvement study was completed in a 20-bed pediatric intensive care unit from July 2013 to July 2014. Children 0–18 years of age requiring mechanical ventilation and receiving sedative or analgesic medications were eligible. Staff completed simultaneous paired RASS assessments in 3 phases: baseline, after educational intervention, and maintenance. RESULTS: Staff completed 347 paired assessments on 45 pediatric intensive care unit patients: 49 in the baseline phase, 228 in the postintervention phase, and 70 in the maintenance phase. There was a significant increase in the weighted κ after the intervention, from 0.56 (95% CI, 0.39–0.72) to 0.86 (95% CI, 0.77–0.95; P < 0.001). The improvement was maintained months later with weighted κ 0.78 (95% CI, 0.61–0.94). In subgroup analysis, there was an increase in weighted κ in patients less than 1 year of age (0.41–0.87) and those with developmental delay (0.49–0.84). CONCLUSIONS: The RASS is a reliable tool for sedation assessment in mechanically ventilated, sedated pediatric patients after implementation of an educational intervention. It is also reliable in patients less than 12 months of age and patients with developmental delay. The ability to easily educate providers to utilize a valid, reliable sedation tool is an important step toward using it to provide consistent care to optimize sedation.