HealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsDeliver custom or industry designed product training directly to patient and resident care environments to reinforce proper use.
View All ProductsTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsHealthStream's EMS Program offers a comprehensive, CAPCE accredited EMS course library that meets National Registry annual recertification.
View All ProductsNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream leverages medical professional development in healthcare by providing staff training programs
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsExperience standardized and centralized healthcare credentialing, privileging, and enrollment that is smarter and faster than ever before.
View All ProductsAutomated, web-based provider credentialing and enrollment software for growing medical groups.
View All ProductsNCQA-certified CVO verification services for initial and re-credentialing files in an overflow or full-service capacity for healthcare organizations.
View All ProductsSearch, review, and add providers into the Epic provider master file with our Epic app integration, Provider Validate.
View All ProductsHealthcare scheduling software designed to optimize staffing requirements & elevate patient care
View All ProductsPrecisely align staffing and needed resources to enable efficient patient flow and high-quality, cost-effective patient care.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s free nurse schedule app, NurseGrid™, is built to help you care for your staff and engage with their specific needs.
View All ProductsMitigate risk and elevate your quality of care. Improving both clinical and business outcomes starts with a smarter, more integrated approach to regulatory training, continuing education and quality management.
Learn MoreEarlier this year, when the first positive result for COVID-19 was reported at the Edward C. Allworth Veterans’ Home in Lebanon, OR, its staff was ready. They had already spent significant time putting policies and procedures in place, everything from specific treatment plans for infection-control measures to keep staff safe, general operational policies, and more.
Those were the takeaways from a recent Nursing Stand-Up webinar, where three staffers from the facility shared their experiences and offered best-practices, tips, and advice. The facility, which opened in 2014, is owned by the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs and is a 154-bed, small-house model that has created four neighborhoods, one dedicated to memory care, on a 12-acre site, says Valerie Weaver, Director of Nursing.
“We have a very unique design that's special for infection control, because if COVID breaks out in one home, we can contain that home and close its doors,” Weaver explains. “Even when we thought in February that there was still a low likelihood of COVID-19 coming into Oregon, we went ahead and began turning our wheels. We started gearing up for what could possibly happen. We reviewed our pandemic policy, making sure that it would cover COVID-19. We also went ahead and reviewed our disaster preparedness policies as well: PPE, staffing, the whole works. And of course, we looked to the CDC and the Oregon state health authorities for guidelines around infection prevention.”
“As a nursing facility, we are constantly training staff,” adds Monica Claflin, LPN, Infection Preventionist. “It's constant, for both new issues and reminders. We go over hand washing, we go over PPE on a regular basis, so it's on the forefront of our minds at all times.”
The facility team worked with a nearby hospital, as well as local and state health departments and anyone else they could think of, including medical schools, to secure additional PPE and other equipment that might be needed.
From those initial preparations, the facility’s staff was able to create a plan that involved trigger points to different stages. From an initial outbreak to access and control, everything was covered in such a way that any eventuality wouldn’t be a surprise.
“We have a four-tiered approach,” Claflin says. “Our first tier went into effect immediately and meant putting signs on all of the access doors and creating screening stations where we could ask about symptoms, if they’d been out of the country, things like that.”
From there, the facility began letting potential visitors know they might not be able to access the site, in order to protect patient safety. Then staff training ramped up, and the move into the second tier was triggered if a confirmed case was noted within 60 miles of the facility — the length of some employees’ commute.
Tier three activated when those confirmed case numbers rose to at least two, and tier four was launched when a confirmed case occurred on the campus. At that point, everything was locked down, with no visors, full staff screening, and limited movement between the residents’ homes.
“We were already on high alert, so we picked up fairly quickly the pattern of several veterans having the same symptoms,” Claflin recalls. “We had these COVID-19 standing orders protocols in place prior to ever even suspecting COVID, so as soon as somebody was noted to have any signs and symptoms, they were placed on droplet precautions,” which were then followed by testing and treatment. Those early catches, and the ability to isolate residents, was key because the facility was full—no room to shuttle people around.
And in the ensuing weeks and months, facility staff worked to not only provide vital care to its residents, but also to support staff as they dealt with the pandemic in their own lives. Constant contact with local, state and federal officials has also been a key factor in staying alert and aware of changing regulations and other news. And through it all, the team continued to innovate.
“Monica developed her very own colorful tracking sheet,” Weaver says. “It contains just the information that we needed to meet the reporting guidelines. That was very helpful. Our plans evolved, and we got amazing support from the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs in terms of notifying families and helping us be transparent with them and the public.”
HealthStream works with organizations throughout non-acute care to address their challenges, from keeping pace with regulatory requirements to engaging and developing competent staff who can satisfy the demands of increased patient complexity. By partnering with HealthStream, organizations are equipped to seamlessly manage the pressures of surveyor visits, while remaining focused on high-quality patient and resident care. Learn more about HealthStream solutions for non-acute care organizations.HealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsWhen you enact HealthStream's quality compliance solutions, you can do so with the confidence your healthcare organization will meet all standards of care.
View All Quality & ComplianceFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsHealthStream offers professional training and education on how to best optimize your reimbursement process within your healthcare organization.
View All ReimbursementTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsLearn about our advanced resuscitation training solutions. Our solutions are designed to help improve patient outcomes.
View All ResuscitationIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsHealthStream's EMS Program offers a comprehensive, CAPCE accredited EMS course library that meets National Registry annual recertification.
View All ProductsNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsExpand the decision-making skills and effectiveness of your healthcare workforce with HealthStream's clinical development programs and services.
View All Clinical DevelopmentMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream leverages medical professional development in healthcare by providing staff training programs
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsLearn more about HealthStream's Provider Credentialing, privileging, & enrollment solutions.
View All CredentialingExperience standardized and centralized healthcare credentialing, privileging, and enrollment that is smarter and faster than ever before.
View All ProductsAutomated, web-based provider credentialing and enrollment software for growing medical groups.
View All ProductsNCQA-certified CVO verification services for initial and re-credentialing files in an overflow or full-service capacity for healthcare organizations.
View All ProductsSearch, review, and add providers into the Epic provider master file with our Epic app integration, Provider Validate.
View All ProductsMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All Scheduling & Capacity ManagementHealthcare scheduling software designed to optimize staffing requirements & elevate patient care
View All ProductsPrecisely align staffing and needed resources to enable efficient patient flow and high-quality, cost-effective patient care.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s free nurse schedule app, NurseGrid™, is built to help you care for your staff and engage with their specific needs.
View All Products