Purpose: A challenge faced by the medical group (MG) is ensuring nursing professional development practitioners (NPDP) can effectively reach 6500 teammates (TMs). This led to a lack of standardization across 35-plus specialty departments and 400 practice locations spanning three states. The purpose is to establish a unified, evidence-based approach to meet the learning needs and competencies of teammates (TMs), regardless of their specialty or location. The nursing education and professional development team, consisting of ten NPDP members, has used data from various sources, such as surveys, quality indicators, incident reports, and observations, to assess the current gaps and needs of the TMs and leaders. The NPDP team developed and implemented numerous tools and tactics, leveraging technology to enhance our department’s mission of a system-standard, regionally delivered, and locally present process of educational offerings.
Description: We used principles of adult learning, innovation, and interactivity to design and deliver educational offerings based on identified educational gaps by leveraging technology platforms such as virtual meetings and escape rooms, video animations, whiteboards, web-based tools, polling options, and breakout rooms to create engaging educational offerings for our MG audience. These offerings included orientation programs, virtual preceptor/leader meetings, just-in-time training, site visits, microburst educational offerings, and interactive newsletters. By experimenting and being mindful of opportunities, we discovered effective methods to incorporate our educational strategies, helping us attract a broader audience. We have seen an improvement in the quality and safety of patient care, which aligns with the organizational vision and goals of the MG.
Evaluation: By reviewing feedback, surveys, and analytics, we tracked attendance and participation in our programs. Throughout this process, we experimented with different methods of education offerings, encountering setbacks but also many successes. Some strategies achieved a significant return on investment, increasing participation per offering from an average 5-15 TMs to 160- 640 TMs. We also evaluated the quality of our programs which showed TMs have appreciated the benefits and have shared their value with coworkers, indicating that we are meeting the needs of our audience. We learned how to create a positive economic outcome for our organization using various technology platforms to connect with our MG TMs, even though we have a small number of NPDPs and a large geographic range. Utilizing our current tools and tactics, we are confident that our team can provide a sustainable and standardized educational approach that is regionally delivered while maintaining a locally present commitment to the MG.