E-learning can improve access to professional development

Education and training can be a challenge for smaller, lean organisations. Often just finding the staff to cover sickness and leave can be a headache, never mind trying to release staff for training days or weeks.

High staff turnover

Healthcare providers usually work with a diverse group of caregivers, and traditionally the turnover of staff has been high. Offering training to staff is an important factor in maintaining staff satisfaction and retaining intellectual capital.

Our systems help deliver training via the intranet or on CD-ROM, using database systems to track the results of your trainees and helping the organisation maintain its staff skill. We are here to assist you, enhancing what you already do; we do not replace one-on-one training, but improve the effectiveness of your existing systems.

The challenges

Edutech KM learned about the challenges facing many health providers while working with Access Homehealth. Their challenge was to make their policies and procedures accessible to all supervisors and other management in a way that they could become familiar with them and could quickly access the information they required. That wasn't happening so easily with large volumes of printed material sitting on a shelf in the regional offices.

Access Homehealth also needed to give staff an easy way of proving their prior knowledge and they further needed to be able to demonstrate that their staff had an acceptable level of training to reach the standard of care required for their contracts.

Gradual introduction

Initially Edutech KM worked with Access Homehealth to transfer all policies and procedures onto CD ROM. As well as the procedures, Edutech KM added training material with self-assessment material and a final assessment that emailed results to a central office. This helped Access Homehealth build up a database of training standards.

Applying their learning

As the generally less computer-literate workforce gained more confidence with this form of learning more health standards and training was added. Scenarios were included, along with suggested activities that encouraged supervisors to apply best practice behaviour.

W Leslie Rae (MPhil, FITOL, Chartered FCIPD) said in an article entitled: Evaluation of Training Learning, which discussed retention of course work: "When learning is applied when the trainee returns to work, the new skills and knowledge developed, reinforce their new abilities, and the organisation benefits from improved performance. Learning without meaningful follow-up and application is largely forgotten and wasted".

A profitable example

Zeacom Ltd

Although not in the healthcare business, one of our clients, New Zealand based company Zeacom Ltd, was challenged by the need to educate a diverse and widespread group of providers. Using our services, they lowered both their training costs and the stress levels of their trainees by reducing their need to travel to seminars and workshops.

Well-trained staff and satisfied trainers are the result of our training packages, results we are sure you can appreciate.

Serious learning

Where an organisation is developing extensive online learning environments with courses, or individual trainees studying in real time with ongoing support from tutors, then you need to consider not just the creation of the program, but the training of tutors.

There is a huge difference between putting up material online and creating a learning environment that takes the best of the online environment and leverages it to the best advantage of the learner and the organisation itself.

Our educational designers would be happy to discuss this further with you. Please email us for more information.

If e-learning is not for your organisation, then perhaps print-based resources could help you meet your training goals. Click here to find out different ways of utilising print resources for training.

Edutech KM Ltd

PO Box 25-241, Victoria Street, Christchurch;
phone: 64-3-337-0234
fax: 64-3-337-0235
info@edutechkm.com
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