The New Normal: Using Technology and Asynchronous Education to Rapidly Deliver Onboarding/Orientation

1) Identify at least two methods used to develop and deliver a virtual onboarding/orientation curriculum.
2) Discuss the use of virtual platforms to onboard staff remotely.

Over the recent years, much focus has been placed on updating onboarding/orientation programs to increase proficiencies and innovation while maintaining patient safety and quality of care (Kennedy, 2014). Amid the pandemic and the startup of new COVID patient care programs, these changes were forced to occur at a pace no one ever could have imagined.

One large healthcare organization in the Midwest developed three multidisciplinary programs to provide care across the continuum for adult patients testing positive for COVID-19 who were well enough to remain at home with outpatient telehealth follow-up. Each program provided a different level of care based on patient acuity. Nurses from varying backgrounds, specialties, and years of experience were assigned to support these programs. This prompted the need to update and accelerate onboarding/orientation practices to reflect the ever-changing pandemic response.

Curriculums were developed using the organization’s tiered skills acquisition model (TSAM™). Initially, onboarding/orientations were streamlined to include face-to-face classes while adhering to Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations of masking and social distancing, along with virtual onboarding/orientation and preceptorship. Because changes to workflows and processes were frequently evolving, a web-based site was created to share real-time education and resources to support nursing teams.

As surges in the pandemic occurred, the need to onboard/orientate nurses working remotely increased, resulting in the need to convert onboarding/orientation into an asynchronous curriculum, combining virtual classes, self-directed learning, and remote precepting. This poster presentation will provide nurse educators with ideas on how to rapidly transform onboarding/orientation utilizing technology and developing asynchronous curriculums to meet the needs of preceptees and preceptors.

References
1) Joswiak, M.E. (2018). Transforming orientation through a tiered skills acquisition model. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 34(3), 118-122. doi: 10.1097/NND.0000000000000439

2) Kennedy, J.M., Nichols, A.A., Halamek, L.P., Arafeh, J.M. (2012). Nursing Department Orientation: Are We Missing the Mark? Journal for Nurses in Staff Development, 28(1), 24-26. doi: 10.1097/NND.0b013e318240a6f3