Abstract

Session G presented Friday, September 28, 1:00-2:00 pm

Purpose: The goal of this project is to foster an environment of clinical excellence by creating an Education Committee dedicated to the teaching of high-skill, low-frequency clinical competencies and disseminating education to fellow nurses. Rather than reliance on repetitive teaching from a Clinical Educator, this model aims to develop expert teachers amongst clinical staff and foster an environment where high performance standards are the expectation amongst colleagues.

Design: This evidence-based project aims to support staff development through improved education strategies. An Education Committee was formed comprised of staff nurses with a demonstrated interest in clinical excellence invited by the department's Clinical Educator. The stated objective for the committee was to select high-skill, low-frequency competencies deemed vital for maintaining a safe patient environment and improve overall staff ability to perform them independently. Every member of nursing staff, under observation by a committee member, is to practice performing each skill once each quarter for a 12 month period. Skills are timed for speed and monitored by committee member for accuracy. Minimum acceptable time limits were decided on by committee members.

Setting: This project is being implemented at an urban, Level One Trauma Center.

Participants/Subjects: Education Committee participants include any staff members who responded to an emailed invitation prior to the first meeting. All ED nursing staff will be participants receiving education from committee members. Methods: Skills taught by members of the Education Committee are timed at each contact with nursing staff. Predetermined maximum times for setting up a skill were designated by members of the committee. Staff remain on a list of those who need further teaching until their times fall below the maximum threshold. Times are recorded at first contact and after subsequent teachings by members of the committee. Times will be measured again after one year. Mean times for all staff to perform each skill will be calculated and compared using a Chi-square analysis.

Results/Outcomes: Initial data suggests that the majority of staff perform skills above the maximum time thresholds. In preliminary results from review of the Belmont Rapid Transfuser the mean time to set up and infusion of 500 ml of fluid was 4 minutes 31 seconds, above the maximum threshold of 3 minutes (n=12).

Implications: The formation of an Education Committee requires pay for administrative, non-productive time for participating staff. A significant decrease in mean times required for staff to effectively perform skills taught by the Education Committee would support this additional expense.

Author Details

Kate Hurley, BSN, RN, CEN; Melissa Connor, BSN, RN, CEN

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Type

Poster

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

N/A

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

Education Committee, Unit-based Skills, Clinical Excellence

Conference Name

Emergency Nursing 2018

Conference Host

Emergency Nurses Association

Conference Location

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Conference Year

2018

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

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Raising the bar: Advancing nursing skills through collaborative education

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Session G presented Friday, September 28, 1:00-2:00 pm

Purpose: The goal of this project is to foster an environment of clinical excellence by creating an Education Committee dedicated to the teaching of high-skill, low-frequency clinical competencies and disseminating education to fellow nurses. Rather than reliance on repetitive teaching from a Clinical Educator, this model aims to develop expert teachers amongst clinical staff and foster an environment where high performance standards are the expectation amongst colleagues.

Design: This evidence-based project aims to support staff development through improved education strategies. An Education Committee was formed comprised of staff nurses with a demonstrated interest in clinical excellence invited by the department's Clinical Educator. The stated objective for the committee was to select high-skill, low-frequency competencies deemed vital for maintaining a safe patient environment and improve overall staff ability to perform them independently. Every member of nursing staff, under observation by a committee member, is to practice performing each skill once each quarter for a 12 month period. Skills are timed for speed and monitored by committee member for accuracy. Minimum acceptable time limits were decided on by committee members.

Setting: This project is being implemented at an urban, Level One Trauma Center.

Participants/Subjects: Education Committee participants include any staff members who responded to an emailed invitation prior to the first meeting. All ED nursing staff will be participants receiving education from committee members. Methods: Skills taught by members of the Education Committee are timed at each contact with nursing staff. Predetermined maximum times for setting up a skill were designated by members of the committee. Staff remain on a list of those who need further teaching until their times fall below the maximum threshold. Times are recorded at first contact and after subsequent teachings by members of the committee. Times will be measured again after one year. Mean times for all staff to perform each skill will be calculated and compared using a Chi-square analysis.

Results/Outcomes: Initial data suggests that the majority of staff perform skills above the maximum time thresholds. In preliminary results from review of the Belmont Rapid Transfuser the mean time to set up and infusion of 500 ml of fluid was 4 minutes 31 seconds, above the maximum threshold of 3 minutes (n=12).

Implications: The formation of an Education Committee requires pay for administrative, non-productive time for participating staff. A significant decrease in mean times required for staff to effectively perform skills taught by the Education Committee would support this additional expense.