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View All ProductsHealthStream's solutions allow your healthcare workforce to be confident and competent with the knowledge they are upholding the highest of standards.
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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 MoreBy Gen Guanci, MEd, RN-BC, CCRN, Consultant, Creative Health Care Management
To all of my fellow professional development specialists out there: If someone asked you what your outcomes are this month, how would you answer?
Numbers or Outcomes?
I pose this question frequently when I am consulting with hospital-based nursing education (nursing professional development, NPD) departments. The answers range from “I did orientation for 12 new RNs” to “I taught eight computerized documentation classes” to “I taught ACLS for 35 people” to “I rounded on my units every day and did in-the-moment education.”
You may be thinking, yes, that sounds like my month, too, but these are activities, not outcomes. Sure, what you did is important, but if nothing changed as a result of you doing orientation, or ACLS, or rounds, what value is that work?
Is Training Leading to Better Care and Outcomes?
So many times NPD specialists and departments excel at doing classes, teaching concepts, and holding conversational rounds, but the transfer of learning to the workplace is absent. Even if the class was wonderful, you were outstanding, and the participants told you so, when they went back to their units, was it the same old same old? No behavior change = no outcomes. The primary reason for education is to learn something well enough that the learner can implement a new behavior, change current behavior, or strengthen it.
How you talk about your own effectiveness matters. Here’s why: Typically in times of financial constraints departments that are not seen as “value added” are looked at for reductions in force (RIFs). By articulating how you contribute to the overall goals of the organization in language that talks directly about measurable outcomes you will now be viewed as “value added.”
Reframing How We Talk About Training
Take orientation, for example. You could report that you did 12 orientations for 85 RNs in the past 6 months but this isn’t speaking to an outcome. However, if the results of your work are that you consistently conducted monthly orientations that led to the overall reduction in vacancy rates you can state the following (actual) outcome: “NPD contributed to the overall reduction in RN vacancy rate from 13.4% to 6.6% by conducting 12 orientation programs in the last 6 months.” Learning how to talk about your successes in ways that have meaning for the C-suite may make the difference between keeping your job and losing it.
And by the way, don’t wait for someone to ask what your outcomes are. Be proactive and tell them.
What outcomes are you measuring in your Education Department? And with whom will you be sharing them?
As a consultant at Creative Health Care Management, Gen is focused on advancing nursing as a profession and nursing professional development. Whether it’s educating on Relationship-Based Care, helping education departments with structure and competency metrics, or guiding organizations as they establish a culture of excellence, including the journey to Magnet®designation, Gen sees the possibilities in all of her clients. Gen can be contacted at gguanci@chcm.com
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 ProductsImprove the preparedness of your staff, increase survival rates, and cut costs with the advanced resuscitation training services from HealthStream.
View All ResuscitationNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training 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 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's solutions allow your healthcare workforce to be confident and competent with the knowledge they are upholding the highest of standards.
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 ProductsDelivers everything you need to request, gather, and validate information about a provider to create a single source of truth for downstream processes.
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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