Author
- Karen Swensen1
- Sydney Adventist Hospital1
2018
Excerpt
Biography:
Karen is an experienced registered nurse and manager. She has over 25 years’ experience across a variety of sectors, including public, private and not-for-profit sectors and has worked in Australia and in Europe. In her ‘younger’ days she cycled over 4000 kilometres around Europe. She has spent most of her career involved in services supporting people with life-limiting illnesses. Karen is currently the manager of the inpatient Oncology and Palliative Care service at Sydney Adventist Hospital, Wahroonga. She is passionate about lifelong learning, empowering women and genuinely cares about the welfare of care-givers.
Introduction
Traditional ward-based in-services have a number of limitations in reaching all clinicians, especially considering the nature of 24-hour care where only a small percentage of staff are present at any given point in time. Alternative communication channels may provide valuable opportunities to extend the reach of education sessions.
Aim
To increase access to educational opportunities for all staff regardless of their shift work patterns, without impacting ward budget or rostered hours.
Problem
Traditional methods of face-to-face ward in-services were only reaching 19% of staff on our Oncology/Palliative Care ward, with entire groups of staff frequently missing out (night shifts and weekends).
Approach
A closed Facebook group was created for ward education and training purposes. Traditional face-to-face inservices were recorded using a mobile phone and uploaded to the Facebook page. Group rules were established regarding membership, postings, and sharing of information/recordings. Posts remained organisational property. Material uploaded included the presentation and questions/discussion.
Results
Over an eight month period the percentage of ward clinicians accessing education in-services increased from 19% to 77%.
Discussion
This forum has been readily embraced by the majority of clinicians. A small number of clinicians who did not have Facebook accounts did not initially engage with the project, but over time have begun to express interest and curiosity about potentially joining the on-line group. Positive feedback included the ability to access the information many times over at a time of their choosing, with most staff choosing to view the inservice from home. Negative feedback included poor sound quality and not being able to ask questions.
Conclusion
Acceptance of the closed Facebook in-service group has grown over time and increased the reach of ward in-service three-fold. The overwhelming majority of staff have expressed their desire for this mechanism of accessing clinical education to continue.
Karen is an experienced registered nurse and manager. She has over 25 years’ experience across a variety of sectors, including public, private and not-for-profit sectors and has worked in Australia and in Europe. In her ‘younger’ days she cycled over 4000 kilometres around Europe. She has spent most of her career involved in services supporting people with life-limiting illnesses. Karen is currently the manager of the inpatient Oncology and Palliative Care service at Sydney Adventist Hospital, Wahroonga. She is passionate about lifelong learning, empowering women and genuinely cares about the welfare of care-givers.
Introduction
Traditional ward-based in-services have a number of limitations in reaching all clinicians, especially considering the nature of 24-hour care where only a small percentage of staff are present at any given point in time. Alternative communication channels may provide valuable opportunities to extend the reach of education sessions.
Aim
To increase access to educational opportunities for all staff regardless of their shift work patterns, without impacting ward budget or rostered hours.
Problem
Traditional methods of face-to-face ward in-services were only reaching 19% of staff on our Oncology/Palliative Care ward, with entire groups of staff frequently missing out (night shifts and weekends).
Approach
A closed Facebook group was created for ward education and training purposes. Traditional face-to-face inservices were recorded using a mobile phone and uploaded to the Facebook page. Group rules were established regarding membership, postings, and sharing of information/recordings. Posts remained organisational property. Material uploaded included the presentation and questions/discussion.
Results
Over an eight month period the percentage of ward clinicians accessing education in-services increased from 19% to 77%.
Discussion
This forum has been readily embraced by the majority of clinicians. A small number of clinicians who did not have Facebook accounts did not initially engage with the project, but over time have begun to express interest and curiosity about potentially joining the on-line group. Positive feedback included the ability to access the information many times over at a time of their choosing, with most staff choosing to view the inservice from home. Negative feedback included poor sound quality and not being able to ask questions.
Conclusion
Acceptance of the closed Facebook in-service group has grown over time and increased the reach of ward in-service three-fold. The overwhelming majority of staff have expressed their desire for this mechanism of accessing clinical education to continue.