Course information

This course is aimed at anyone who has previously undertaken spirometry training or education and is feeling a little ‘out of practice’ or ‘rusty’! It can serve as revision for those who have been practising for many years but aims to also provide new and thought provoking content to challenge the way you practice. Our clinical expert who created and designed the e-learning (Chris Loveridge) has years of experience in working clinically and in training and education. She was part of the working party who created ‘A guide to quality assured spirometry in primary care’ (2013) and created the 10 steps to interpretation. For our courses she has rewritten these as the ‘Seven Steps to standardised spirometry’ (2020) and this will be introduced in the first section to ensure all spirometry traces performed are ‘fit for purpose’ and can be numerically interpreted. The difference between numerical and clinical interpretation will be explored alongside new guidelines and the responsibility of giving a diagnosis to a patient and their family. As with all our courses there are PP video presentations for each session, with interactive knowledge checks and guided learning activities which offer further learning. The final assessment after 5 sessions will consolidate the learning that has taken place.

Course content

By the end of this course delegates will be able to:
• Reflect on their prior learning and the impact on their practice
• Apply a systematic approach to interpretation and history taking
• Understand and appreciate the Lower Limit of Normal (LLN) and potential impact on misdiagnosis
• Relate Z scores to LLN and all parameters of spirometry tests
• Critically appraise the difference in guidelines and reflect on whether practice should change
• Consider the impact reporting of results has on clinical outcome
• Reflect on current practice and responsibilities in ongoing diagnosis and management

Presented in 5 defined sessions of approximately 90 minutes learning (per session) and activities this course provides a revision session of both performing and basic interpretation alongside questioning current practice:

• How good is your practice?

• Lower limit or normal – what does this mean?

• Guidelines or confusion – do we need a protocol?

• Report writing and clinical context

• Reporting and responsibilities

Online course details

Please note: once you have completed the registration form, your details will be passed to the training provider who will contact you in due course with details on how to access the online learning.

Course length = 7.5 hours

Access =  1 month to complete

An online course that includes expert instruction and guided activities with a final set of MCQ’s to check your understanding.

Course eligibility

This CPD course is for Practice Nurses and Allied Health Care Professionals. Please check here if you are eligible for these funded courses.

Please note: By applying for any of these training courses, you/your practice will not be able to also claim your £333 allocated CPD funding.