Make staff education an ongoing process
Make staff education an ongoing process
Learning opportunities considered most effective
Question: "It's often difficult to dedicate time to learning new patient education programs. In light of such time constraints, what are some of the methods you use at your institution to teach staff new programs? What problems have you encountered with these methods and how have you solved them? Which methods have you found to be most effective?"
Answer: "The method we have used most is the self-learning packet, but we have also used small unit presentations and small displays in heavy employee traffic areas," says Loretta Olson, RN, MEd, patient education coordinator at Bryan Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, NE.
The self-learning packet is the most time-consuming to create and for staff to work through, but post-tests can provide proof of learning, says Olson. Therefore, the packets work well if introducing a new program or major changes in an existing program, says Olson.
Unit presentations are particularly effective if the various floors will not be using the information uniformly or conducting the program in the same way. Also, Olson often gives a presentation if staff have been required to do too many self-learning packets in recent months. "We find that if we do the same thing over and over, people get burned out even though it is a good solid learning activity," says Olson.
Posters in high-traffic areas are used when small changes are made in programs or to announce a new resource such as an addition to CCTV. "The program is in place and the knowledge is already there, so the information is just more of an update," explains Olson.
When presentations pertaining to patient education are mandatory, Olson will join with other managers who have new information to introduce. That way, rather than requiring employees to attend a 30-minute presentation on a new patient education program, they will be asked to attend a half-day workshop covering three or four unrelated topics. "It is difficult to get people away while they are on duty because they are so busy, so we try to have them come in on their day off," says Olson.
Employees are paid for attending the meeting, and they also are frequently paid for completing self-learning packets. Olson determines how much time it takes the average person to complete the packet, and all employees are paid for that amount of time.
An ongoing source of learning
Clarion Health Partners in Indianapolis is currently developing CD-ROMs to describe its various patient education programs, such as the total joint replacement program. In this way, the curriculum is available for new employees to study or for staff to review.
"Our goal is to have most of our staff education on CD-ROM," says Amy Sorrells, BSN, RN, patient education coordinator for the health system. "A CD-ROM tailors itself to the needs of the person who is going through the competency, so if a person misses a question, it might bump him or her back to review material that was shown before," says Sorrells.
"Any way we can get the word out, we do it," says Madge Patyk, MS, RN, patient education coordinator at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Representatives from the patient education committee conduct grand rounds once a year. The focus of the rounds in June was to introduce staff to the programs available at the new Wellness Institute such as stress reduction, weight reduction, and smoking cessation.
The goal was to show staff how they could direct some of their patients to these new resources.
Patyk also writes a patient education update for a quarterly newsletter that is distributed to nurses. In that newsletter, she highlights new brochures that are available, as well as new programs.
Making sure staff are aware of all the resources available through each department is an ongoing process, says Sorrells. That's why the multidisciplinary patient education task force at Methodist Hospital organized a series of unit-based patient education fairs in 1997. Each floor would highlight its educational materials and programs using a variety of methods such as posters and videos. Staff throughout the hospital would attend the fair.
"The fairs help educate and motivate staff to do patient education. They also help us reduce duplication of materials throughout our institution and help staff know what programs are available for referral," explains Sorrells. Since Methodist Hospital merged with two other hospitals to become Clarion Health Partners, the patient education fairs in 1998 will be systemwide and will move from campus to campus.
Providing ongoing education on the resources and programs that are available is important, agrees Patyk. Although all staff at Northwestern Memorial learn about patient education resources during orientation, new managers and staff educators are beginning to schedule appointments with Patyk to gain insight into programs and materials that are specific to their patient group.
"People forget what resources are available, or there is a changeover in staff. People need reminders, and there are new things coming out, so we keep putting the information in the forefront as much as we can," says Patyk.
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