Seeking advice about new Hospital Clinical Educator Position

[DanaBA, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP]

I am currentlya Clinical Nurse Leader and have been for about a year. I have been a nurse for9 years and have experience in OB, Nursery, Peds, Med/Surg, and Telemetry. Iapplied for a job as a Clinical Educator at a facility that will be openingsoon. I had a successful phone interview and will have a second in personinterview with the directors.

I would like to know if there are any hospital educators that can offer me someadvice or suggestions. I don't have actual experience in this role but haveexperience providing education to staff and patients throughout my nursingcareer and in my role as a Clinical Nurse Leader.

The hospitalwill start off small with 80 beds and grow over time. I would be responsiblefor educating all of the clinical staff. Do you think being an Educator in anewly opened facility would be too much of a challenge? How would you suggestgoing about getting started as an educator in a new facility?

Any advice/suggestions greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Oh my, where to start - LOL.

Unlike the popular opinion of our roles, education is actually a whole different discipline... with its own theory & practices. It's a lot more complex than simply having an inservice. Employee education is the foundation of a lot of regulatory compliance and can be a major source of liability for any employer. Most people don't even realize how serious this can be. For instance, trying to use home-grown 'tests' can open up a legal Pandora's Box of discrimination claims. I strongly urge you to join ANPD & take advantage of their resources for new educators. ANPD - Association for Nursing Professional Development Get to know your new BFFs in Risk management & HR - they have expertise in this area.

First of all, "job one" will need establishing processes for meeting all of the regulatory requirements for education & training (JC, CMS, OSHA, etc) for incoming staff. In order to avoid potential liability, you need to understand all of the legal issues associated with workforce education (FLSA, EEOC, & state). Each job has to have an associated 'competency' structure which will guide not only hiring, but orientation and developmental activities. Without electronic support (Learning Management System), tracking and monitoring activities is nearly impossible.... and trying to produce records for JC is a nightmare. If there is no funding, try Moodle (open-source LMS) https://moodle.org/

Establish your BLS/ACLS, NRP, TNCC infrastructure. This training is expensive, so you will need to be ready with a clearly documented plan for implementation - including all of the associated costs. It may be more feasible to just contract with another training center for a few years. If you are not a BLS/ACLS instructor, you need to do this.

Unless you have documented recent competence in a clinical specialty, your expertise will not stand up to scrutiny when it comes to establishing and validating competency for all of those specialties. I would suggest that you identify your SMEs (subject matter experts) that are the go-to people in each area. They will be responsible for feedback/validation of any content you develop. You can facilitate, and help develop structures, but JC requires bedside validation of competency... in actual practice ... not in a classroom. You will need to train preceptors & validate their competency before they work with orientees - JC will ask for documentation that this has been done.

If you can talk your employer into it - see if they will subscribe to an online educational resource such as EBSCO's Nursing Reference Center Nursing Reference Center | Evidence-Based Nursing Resources | EBSCO or Mosby's Nursing Consult http://www.nursingconsult.com/nursing/index... there are others as well. These sites have a ton of skills checklists & references for clinical skills. It will save you enormous time and effort.

Establish some boundaries related to your scope of responsibility and the support that will be provided. Make sure you have a laptop with adequate software & electronic projector before you begin. Keep track of the hours you're putting in & insist on some clerical assistance.

Welcome to our tribe. Have fun!!!

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

agree fully with HouTx. Would add that you need to well versed in the BON rules for your state, policies of the facility, and know resources for professional information (evidence based study results, national guidelines, postion papers from professional organizations like INS, AHA, etc.). Be familiar with Joint Commission website. Get on committees so you can learn what is going on in the hospital and how to be part of the training, awareness. ASPN is a good organization for Educators.

[DanaBA, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP]

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate the advice.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Been there, done that, have nothing to add except one thing. When I had clinical students come to the hospital where I worked as clin spec/educator, I made sure to make friends with their instructors. They need resources sometimes, and you might get asked to present at clinical postconference. Be a gem!