Dissemination Methods

Hi Rya and welcome! I do a lot of staff development/education as part of my job and I typically use a multitude of venues for communication. It depends on what the education/message is though and if it requires more of a hands-on or in-person approach versus just sending an email or posting in a general area. So, for instance we require certain stroke education yearly to maintain our primary stroke center status. I choose the web-based modules and/or inservices that will be required of my staff (I cover two units) and I typically decide on a due date; though the general hospital expectation is just to get it done by the end of the year, I prefer to staff to have it done at least 1-2 months early and the unit managers hold them accountable to this. I usually create a flier with the requirements and due dates and post in prominent places on the unit in addition to emailing it and announcing it at staff meetings and practice council meetings. On the other hand, we changed our process for initiating and maintaining certain high risk medication drips so that required written information via email to supplement me doing 1:1 and small huddles with staff. We have permanent charge nurses who basically function as assistant managers, so they serve as unit resources for any new education during off shifts, therefore I prep them more in depth ahead of time and always in person.Essentially you have to look at what needs to be disseminated and determine the best method based on your resources. Budget is obviously a big concern all over which is why I utilize our charge nurses as resources on off shifts to avoid staff needing to come in on their off days. Rather, they can get the education while they are already at work if possible.

Sorry for the appearance of the above post. Tried to separate paragraphs, but it didn't work and couldn't edit the post. Arrggghh!