Learning Objective #1: Articulate evidence to support selection of educational methods in the practice setting

Learning Objective #2: Identify methods to evaluate effectiveness of educational offerings

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Just as healthcare requires evidence based practice, so too does staff education. This presentation explores the changes in the health care delivery situation which require changes in planning, delivery and evaluation of educational offerings. The nursing shortage, changing nurse demographics, the ongoing demand for education and remediation, the requirement for high quality care in a complex technical and rapidly changing clinical situation and resource constraints have changed education in the practice setting. This means that maximum effective education needs to be delivered in an efficient manner to a wide range of staff. Methods such as traditional classroom offerings are a challenge to schedule and staff cannot anticipate unit activity and needs. In addition, it is well known that lengthy sessions are not conducive to optimal learning.

Deployment of an updated computerized system provides the opportunity to use evidence in educational design and deployment building on principles of adult learning and operating within the situational constraints. As a result, offerings were developed using a computerized learning management system delivering content specific to the setting. This provides flexibility for the learner allowing them to learn when and where they are able to devote manageable amounts of time to the process. Individuals learn at different speeds so the learner can repeat as needed. Electronic tracking of completion of the learning process is useful; providing supported practice sessions allows use of different learning methods based on individual needs. This paper presents methods used to analyze education evidence, build and deploy the educational offering and to evaluate its effectiveness using multiple Kirkpatrick levels.

As we strive to teach staff to use evidence in their daily practice, educators can do no less than to use evidence to support the practice of education.