Healthcare organizations are confronted with an extreme shortage of Registered Nurses, which is expected to grow exponentially through the year 2020. Difficulties in attracting, developing, and retaining, a competent professional nursing workforce challenges our goals for quality and continuity of care at hospitals throughout the United States. Unlike previous cyclical shortages this is a structural shortage. Unless addressed, it will reach crisis proportions, in urban and rural hospitals.
This structural nursing shortage creates tremendous financial burdens on hospital operating budgets. Direct costs of filling a vacant nursing position are 100% of a nurse’s annual salary. These costs do not include softer hidden costs such as liability payments and the "costs of chaos” incurred as a result of having agency nurses providing care in a setting in which they are unfamiliar with the local policies and procedures.
The healthcare industry has typically addressed high RN vacancy rates by accelerating perks for experienced nurses and hiring more new graduate nurses. Perks are costly and result in one facility trying to outdo another, which escalates costs even more. High RN vacancy rates increase the pressure to get new graduates oriented and working as soon as possible. As a result, new graduates are under pressure to perform in life-threatening situations without prior experience. The inability to handle the pressure and resultant stress is reflected in the turnover rates of new graduate RN’s at 35 to 60 percent within the first 12 months of employment.
The Solution?
About five years ago we proposed a unique approach in order to solve the nursing shortage. Recognizing a long identified problem of not having an RN program available to citizens in the Stillwater area, this proposal suggests that the Hospital form a partnership with eLearning Innovations, Inc. located in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Hospital provides clinical experiences for local students enrolled in the nursing programs that would be provided by partnering institutions and delivered by two-way video as well as courses via Internet and online. Students live in their home community, in this case an medium size Oklahoma Community, and participate in the nursing programs, for the most part using two-way video that originates at the various participating nursing schools.
The Hospital would fund the training of nurse mentors and clinical practitioners that would meet the requirements of the participating institutions. The nursing mentor is responsible for integrating the clinical experiences for local students at the Hospital. After eight months of a pilot program that has focused on developing the educational component between the Hospital and partnering Institution, we believe that with the appropriate modifications, this program will be able to meet the current and future needs of the Hospital and the Oklahoma community.
Therefore, a community-based undergraduate nursing program has been developed and implemented to educate new nursing students who will have the opportunity to live and work in their home community. This program is designed to partner an academic nursing program with a local community hospital for the purpose of increasing the supply of nurses into the workforce which will better serve the community for the near and distant future.
Please have look at this program is has great potential. Thanks, Lorne
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Learning Collaboration Suite in a Hospital Environnment
Training in a hospital setting is a challenge. New employees, changing protocols, new equipment, and certifiable mandatory training to all employees are just a few examples of the training demands today. Of course, no matter what the size of your medical facility, even “off-the-shelf” training must be typically localized and customized.
eLearning Innovations, Inc. is an Oklahoma-based training services company with solid and extensive experience working in the medical industry. Through our service, Learning Collaboration Suite, we would like to demonstrate some training solutions that have been successful for other medical facilities.
For some medical facilities, a strategic and blended training initiative has proven to be just what the doctor ordered. Our solution creates a unique opportunity without capital expenditure, can be accomplished on a limited budget, and requires minimal or no IT support.
By using our Learning Collaboration Suite service package, the development of new blended training courses, including tests and surveys, can be seamlessly delivered and managed -- be it online, live, synchronous, asynchronous, or in blended modes.
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCHAO) has strongly recommended the need for regular compliance training of all medical staff. Our Learning Collaboration Suite is able to manage the many facets of both online and classroom-based instruction. With it, training courses can be quickly developed, distributed and managed without any support from your IT group.
We would like to demonstrate the attributes of the Learning Collaboration Suite that can assist with easily launching online courses and automatically recording learner status for on-demand reporting and built-in reporting in order to track learner progress to ensure that training has been completed.
Because our program is a service, there is no software to install, maintain, or upgrade, and no servers to buy, operate or support. In fact, there is no server-side resources required at all.
We have eliminated the capital costs and corporate resources required in deploying a learning management technology. This now enables all healthcare facilities of whatever size to take advantage of the many benefits without the concerns of purchasing, implementing and maintaining software and technology on an ongoing basis.
Ultimately, the most important advantage of our program is to increase the productivity to an organization's training operations. Studies show that training development and deployment time can be reduced by 50% by using our Learning Collaboration Suite services.
eLearning Innovations, Inc. is an Oklahoma-based training services company with solid and extensive experience working in the medical industry. Through our service, Learning Collaboration Suite, we would like to demonstrate some training solutions that have been successful for other medical facilities.
For some medical facilities, a strategic and blended training initiative has proven to be just what the doctor ordered. Our solution creates a unique opportunity without capital expenditure, can be accomplished on a limited budget, and requires minimal or no IT support.
By using our Learning Collaboration Suite service package, the development of new blended training courses, including tests and surveys, can be seamlessly delivered and managed -- be it online, live, synchronous, asynchronous, or in blended modes.
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCHAO) has strongly recommended the need for regular compliance training of all medical staff. Our Learning Collaboration Suite is able to manage the many facets of both online and classroom-based instruction. With it, training courses can be quickly developed, distributed and managed without any support from your IT group.
We would like to demonstrate the attributes of the Learning Collaboration Suite that can assist with easily launching online courses and automatically recording learner status for on-demand reporting and built-in reporting in order to track learner progress to ensure that training has been completed.
Because our program is a service, there is no software to install, maintain, or upgrade, and no servers to buy, operate or support. In fact, there is no server-side resources required at all.
We have eliminated the capital costs and corporate resources required in deploying a learning management technology. This now enables all healthcare facilities of whatever size to take advantage of the many benefits without the concerns of purchasing, implementing and maintaining software and technology on an ongoing basis.
Ultimately, the most important advantage of our program is to increase the productivity to an organization's training operations. Studies show that training development and deployment time can be reduced by 50% by using our Learning Collaboration Suite services.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Humanizing: Essential Ingredient for Online Success
The other day I had the unique experience of meeting with a physician to perform a medical test as part of my annual physical. I had not met this doctor before and he walked into the examination room with a soft drink as big as a gallon pail. Now I may be exaggerating a little, but it was a very large soft drink!
He did not bother to introduce himself but immediately proceeded with the testing process. He didn't even bother to explain how he was going to conduct the test except to point out that I could feel sharp jabs at the count of three.
Afterwards, I couldn’t help but think of the instructors and students that are participating in synchronous e-learning events and their various styles of participation. We, as informational providers, need to consider this as a unique opportunity to see that personal student goals are met and to realize certain expectations and experiences. In this case, whether we are participating in a face-to-face situation or a distance learning class, it would be very beneficial for us to allow the humanistic process to work.
As part of the instructional design procedures, humanizing is an essential ingredient that is extremely useful in the exchange of information through distance learning. The uniform art of getting to know somebody in the individual’s particular style is what I call humanizing. And, as the research has indicated, the increase of knowledge through informal channels is greater than formal channels. Humanization helps us establish the informal channels.
The result is that participants feel more comfortable by using various humanizing techniques. They are more willing to share their concerns about the information and to suggest different ways of participating in the interactive process.
As built into our Learning Collaboration Suite, the content design and implementation is a strong ingredient.
I would be very interested in some of you sharing your humanistic techniques for distance learning.
He did not bother to introduce himself but immediately proceeded with the testing process. He didn't even bother to explain how he was going to conduct the test except to point out that I could feel sharp jabs at the count of three.
Afterwards, I couldn’t help but think of the instructors and students that are participating in synchronous e-learning events and their various styles of participation. We, as informational providers, need to consider this as a unique opportunity to see that personal student goals are met and to realize certain expectations and experiences. In this case, whether we are participating in a face-to-face situation or a distance learning class, it would be very beneficial for us to allow the humanistic process to work.
As part of the instructional design procedures, humanizing is an essential ingredient that is extremely useful in the exchange of information through distance learning. The uniform art of getting to know somebody in the individual’s particular style is what I call humanizing. And, as the research has indicated, the increase of knowledge through informal channels is greater than formal channels. Humanization helps us establish the informal channels.
The result is that participants feel more comfortable by using various humanizing techniques. They are more willing to share their concerns about the information and to suggest different ways of participating in the interactive process.
As built into our Learning Collaboration Suite, the content design and implementation is a strong ingredient.
I would be very interested in some of you sharing your humanistic techniques for distance learning.
Monday, February 19, 2007
GSA Schedule 70 News Release
In this opportunity to discuss content preparation for distance learning, I wanted to share an overall program that we have put together specifically for State and Federal Governments. You can read about it here.
Of course the Learning Collaboration Suite is also available for education, business and industry. I'm looking forward to your interactions regarding the Learning Collaboration Suite.
Thanks
Lorne
www.elearninginnovations.com
Of course the Learning Collaboration Suite is also available for education, business and industry. I'm looking forward to your interactions regarding the Learning Collaboration Suite.
Thanks
Lorne
www.elearninginnovations.com
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