Technology in Nursing Staff Development

Online training is no longer an option but a requirement. It is cheaper and easier, once the system is set up. Of course, you have to have good educators to write the content, or pay for others to do it. It is great for generic subjects, like hand washing or annual ed stuff.

The biggest problem we encounter is that not every adult has computer access or ability. They do better with live instruction or video/DVD. There are language barriers and some people who work in housekeeping or maintenance are illiterate or nearly so. Education has to be geared to their ability.

Our managers and other supervisors have personal computers at their desk. The rest of the staff does not. They have to share. So accessibility may be a problem. We cannot require them to take a course away from work unless we pay them and that is not as easy as it sounds. Mandatory courses are thus kept to a minimum.

We contract with Health.edu to provide online training for staff who are interested. All licensed people (nurses,lab, pharm, resp) can get continuing ed this way. Since it is for their benefit they do it on their own time and at home.

PDA's are not useful in our experience. We are not going to buy every unit a batch of them, and patients think you are playing games when you use them. Too few nurses have their own as the data they need is available on house computers.

I agree with classicdame.

Also ... I have attended some good webcasts in continuing education, but most have been disappointing in that they have lacked the depth that is easier to find in face-to-face communication. (Note that I also do some academic teaching online and via videostream in addition to doing hospital staff development.) So my feelings are mixed as to its effectiveness.

I find that as a teacher, there are few good resources to help someone like me learn to be good at using those technologies. Again, the books and classes I have seen tend to be rather superficial. I find that I am "learning by doing" -- teaching myself as I go, with my poor students as guinnea pigs. I am considering taking a class this summer on "how to teach online, etc." but I hesitate to spend the money as I have been so disappointed in the "how to" materials I have seen so far.

In my hospital staff development job, money is a big problem right now. There is no budget for computers -- or for the training we educators need in order to be able to use the technology most effectively. (Hence, why I would have to pay out of my pocket to take the class I am considering for this summer.)

llg has a valid point. Online training is expensive to set up and maintain. I forgot to mention that PDA's are not used in our facility due to risk of HIPAA violations.

I think powerpoints are great. More concise and not too much information. I think you still need to have some "hands on training". Everyone has different learning styles. Some people do not understand the computer or not enough computers are accessible to the staff while at work.

I have seen people tab thru the powerpoints, take the test, and if they pass they stop. If they fail they look for ONLY the answers to what they missed. It is a chore and they are not interested in learning, only in completing the chore. But then, people also sleep in lectures, so there you are.