Ideas That Work: COVID-19

The coronavirus has forced us to change how we present ongoing education for our medical center's 120 perioperative team members. Monthly staff education at our hospital used to occur in a large conference room with multiple sessions throughout the day, but COVID-19 safety mandates have put limitations on the number of individuals allowed in a room. As a perioperative educator, I found a way to use technology to enhance staff education. On the days we start surgery late to schedule staff education sessions, team members report to their assigned operating rooms and I use an online meeting platform to present remotely. Each operating room team accesses the presentation through in-room computers and projects it onto large flat screen monitors. I've discovered several advantages to using this modified method of presenting monthly education. Putting staff into smaller, remote groups encourages everyone to speak up, ask questions and not be influenced by a few large personalities. I've also found that more interactive conversations take place during the meetings and noticed an increase in staff engagement following the sessions. In the large group education setting, many employees would sit only with friends, a development that stifled active conversation. Having staff members attend remote sessions with their assigned operating room teams, which change monthly, creates a multi-disciplinary and dynamic learning environment.

Therese Ehr, RN, BSN
Kadlec Regional Medical Center
Richland, Wash.
[email protected]