Establishing an Education Communications Network for Critical Access Hospital Nurses

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Establishing an Education Communications Network
for Critical Access Hospital Nurses

• Nadine Coudret EdD, RN
• Victoria Pigott MSN, CNS, RN

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The College of Nursing and Health Professions
background

• History of educational opportunities
• Nursing programs established in 1988
• Started with the ASN and BSN programs
• 1995 started the MSN program
• 2008 DNP

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Distance Education

• Video delivered courses in 1992
• Internet delivered courses in 1997
• Podcasting courses in 2007
• Opportunities for working professionals to obtain
  a degree

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Distance Education Tools

• DVDs
• Live videostreams (lectures and demonstrations)
• Archived videostreams (lectures and
  demonstrations)
• Online group discussions
• Podcasts
• Online testing
• Email and listservs
• Online library access

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Continuing Education Mission

• College of Nursing Mission statement includes
• Provide professional development courses and
  offerings for registered nurses
• Onsite (USI campus) continuing education
  offerings started in 1989
• Online continuing education started in 1998

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Online Continuing Education

• Learning needs of nurses and health care
  providers
• Relevant content
• Competency development
• Flexible learning schedules
• Asynchronous (24 hour access to program content)
• Timelines to encourage program completion but
• flexible to allow for working professionals
• Education in your Time and Place

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Our First Offering Anticoagulation Therapy

• Approached by a pharmaceutical representative who
  identified the need for an Anticoagulation
  Therapy education program
• Worked with national anticoagulation experts to
  determine content
• Worked with distance education professionals, IT
  experts, and faculty to design course delivery
• Developed and delivered the first program in
  November 1998 with 35 participants

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Current online Certificate Program offerings

• Specialized professional education
• Alzheimers Disease
• Anticoagulation therapyIncluding 2 sub-specialty
  programs on billing and patient self-testing.
• Case Management
• Diabetes
• Health Promotion and Worksite Wellness
• Heart Failure

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Current online Certificate Program offerings

• Lipid Management
• Oncology
• Pain Management
• Parish Nursing
• Telehealth
• Wound management

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Accreditations

• The college of nursing achieved ANCC
  accreditation in 2008. Prior to this we were
  accredited providers through the Indiana State
  Nurses Association (ISNA)
• The Diabetes program was named the first
  Competency program available through ANCC

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Critical Access Hospitals (CAH)Continuing
Education

• Recruit critical access hospitals in southern
  Indiana to participate in pilot project
• Supported by a grant from
• Southwest Indiana Area Health
• Education Center (SWI-AHEC)

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• Goal 1
• Provide access and support the professional
  development of rural hospital nurses in the
  Southwest Indiana Area Health Education Center
  (SWI-AHEC) area
• Provide easy access and affordable CE to nurses
  in critical access hospitals located in SWI-AHEC
  region.
• Encourage professional development among the
  rural nurses serving Indiana.
• Minimize the expense to the hospitals
  participating in the project.

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• Goal 2
• Establish an education communications network
  for CAH nurses.
• Purchase equipment required for participation by
  the three SWI-AHEC region critical access
  hospitals.
• Collaborate with hospital staff to install
  equipment.
• Provide ongoing instruction and consultation
  relative to use of the equipment.

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• Goal 3
• Develop and present six (6) one hour CE
  presentations.
• Initiate the collaborative development of six CE
  presentations engaging ANCC nurse planners,
  hospital vice presidents of nursing and education
  directors, and college/university faculty and
  staff (University of Southern Indiana, University
  of Evansville, IVY Tech State College,
  Evansville, and Vincennes University.
• Provide six continuing education presentations.
• Document attendance and analyze evaluation data
  of the education presentations.

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•  Goal 4
• Foster professional development of nurses in
  critical access hospitals encourage staff nurse
  presentations
• Promote collaboration of ANCC nurse planners and
  nurses employed in critical access hospitals in
  the development of CE offerings.
• Provide assistance to nurses during their
  presentation.
•  

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Phase One

• Three CAHs were recruited for the pilot project
• Gibson General Hospital Princeton, Indiana
• St. Marys Warrick, Boonville, Indiana
• Perry Memorial, Tell City, Indiana
• Equipment needed was purchased
• Needs Assessment completed
• Staff nurses
• Administration
• Four offerings have been completed and are
  archived on the website.

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Presentation Topics

• What Nurses Need to Know About Ostomy Care
•  
• CBC Interpretation for Nurses
•  
• Severe Hypoglycemia and Sepsis
•  
• General Orthopaedic Concepts for Nurses
•  
• Physical Assessment
•  Assessing the Neurological Patient

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Program Delivery

• Flyers, PPTs, quizzes, evaluations, sign up
  sheets are sent to the Critical Access Hospitals
  prior to the presentation.
• Presentations begin promptly at 100 and last no
  more than one hour.
• Time is allowed for questions.
• The Critical Access Hospital proctors obtain all
  pieces from participants and send to USI.
• USI sends back CEs for distribution
• At program completion it is archived and
  available

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What We Have Learned

• Evaluating data
• Nurse feedback from each offeringStaff nurses
  love the idea of joining their colleagues in a
  live lecture.
• The needs assessment obtained from the nurses was
  used to determine the presentations.
• The program has helped to alleviate some fears of
  online education.

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• Administrative feedback covering the first
  four offerings
• Allows the hospital to help nurses obtain
  continuing education credits and maintain their
  certification.
• Our verbal feedback has been very positive. The
  nurses feel like they have learned from each
  session.
• As a small hospital we dont have a dedicated
  nurse educator so this is a great way to offer
  quality education for staff.
• We have had requests for similar in-services for
  our respiratory therapy staff and our Rehab
  staff PT and OT

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Sustaining the Program

• Continue to offer a monthly CE for nurses in
  Critical Access Hospitals
• Offer the program to Critical Access Hospital at
  a reasonable fee per nurse
• Work with staff nurses to develop the programs
  they feel are important to their practice

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Thank you