Enhancing clinician participation in quality improvement training: implementation and impact of an evidence-based initiative to maximise antenatal clinician participation in training regarding women’s alcohol consumption during pregnancy

BACKGROUND: There are significant challenges in ensuring sufficient clinician participation in quality improvement training. Clinician capability has been identified as a barrier to the delivery of evidence-based care. Clinician training is an effective strategy to address this barrier, however, there are significant challenges in ensuring adequate clinician participation in training. This study aimed to assess the extent of participation by antenatal clinicians in evidence-based training to address alcohol consumption during pregnancy, and to assess differences in participation by profession. METHODS: A 7-month training initiative based on six evidence-based principles was implemented in a maternity service in New South Wales, Australia. Descriptive statistics described participation in training (% attending: any training; six evidence-based principles of training; all principles). Regression analyses examined differences by profession. RESULTS: Almost all antenatal clinicians participated in some training (182/186; 98%); 69% participated in ≥1 h of training (μ = 88.2mins, SD:56.56). The proportion of clinicians participating in training that satisfied each of the six principles ranged from 35% (training from peers and experts) to 82% (training was educational and instructional). Only 7% participated in training that satisfied all principles. A significantly higher proportion of midwifery compared to medical clinicians participated in training satisfying five of the six training principles. CONCLUSIONS: A training initiative based on evidence-based principles resulted in almost all clinicians receiving some training and 69% participating in at least 1 h of training. Variability between professions suggests training needs to be tailored to such groups. Further research is required to determine possible associations with care delivery outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, No. ACTRN12617000882325 (date registered: 16/06/2017).