scholarly journals Rapid Implementation and Evaluation of Virtual Health Training in a Subspecialty Hospital in British Columbia, in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasra Hassani ◽  
Theresa McElroy ◽  
Melissa Coop ◽  
Joelle Pellegrin ◽  
Wan Ling Wu ◽  
...  

Introduction: Adoption of virtual health (VH) solutions in healthcare has been challenging; this changed rapidly after implementation of physical distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the pandemic, British Columbia's Children's and Women's sub-specialty hospitals rapidly trained and scaled up support to equip staff and clinicians to use VH.Methods: Ninety-minute live online training workshops and frequently updated online support materials were offered for 6 weeks. Training was monitored via feedback collected at training sessions and a brief post-training survey. After training completion, a second survey was circulated to measure utilization outcomes and experiences with VH.Results: Eight hundred and ninety-five participants representing 82% of staff requiring support were trained through 101 sessions; 348 (38.9%) and 272 (30.4%) responses were collected for the monitoring and outcome surveys, respectively. Overall, 89% agreed that training was relevant to their needs; participants indicated average 58.1% (SD = 26.6) and 60.6% (SD = 25.2) increase in knowledge and confidence in VH after training; 90.1% had booked or conducted VH sessions. Increase in confidence was more pronounced in participants with lesser previous exposure to VH, but number of sessions conducted post-training and percentage of successful sessions were independent of previous exposure. For future training and support, participants suggested subject-tailored trainings, asynchronous trainings, and availability of experienced users.Discussion: Training is key to success of VH implementation. Moving forward, core competencies in VH should be developed to support standardization and allow for evaluation and quality improvement. Incorporation of VH training in continuous professional development and onboarding is also highly recommended.

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. e039459
Author(s):  
Abdallah Y Naser ◽  
Zahra Khalil Alsairafi ◽  
Ahmed Awaisu ◽  
Hassan Alwafi ◽  
Oriana Awwad ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo evaluate the attitudes of undergraduate pharmacy students towards patient safety in six developing countries.DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingParticipants were enrolled from the participating universities in six countries.ParticipantsUndergraduate pharmacy students from the participating universities in six developing countries (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, India and Indonesia) were invited to participate in the study between October 2018 and September 2019.Primary outcomeAttitudes towards patient safety was measured using 14-item questionnaire that contained five subscales: being quality-improvement focused, internalising errors regardless of harm, value of contextual learning, acceptability of questioning more senior healthcare professionals’ behaviour and attitude towards open disclosure. Multiple-linear regression analysis was used to identify predictors of positive attitudes towards patient safety.ResultsA total of 2595 students participated in this study (1044 from Jordan, 514 from Saudi Arabia, 134 from Kuwait, 61 from Qatar, 416 from India and 429 from Indonesia). Overall, the pharmacy students reported a positive attitude towards patient safety with a mean score of 37.4 (SD=7.0) out of 56 (66.8%). The ‘being quality-improvement focused’ subscale had the highest score, 75.6%. The subscale with the lowest score was ‘internalising errors regardless of harm’, 49.2%. Female students had significantly better attitudes towards patient safety scores compared with male students (p=0.001). Being at a higher level of study and involvement in or witnessing harm to patients while practising were important predictors of negative attitudes towards patient safety (p<0.001).ConclusionPatient safety content should be covered comprehensively in pharmacy curricula and reinforced in each year of study. This should be more focused on students in their final year of study and who have started their training. This will ensure that the next generation of pharmacists are equipped with the requisite knowledge, core competencies and attitudes to ensure optimal patient safety when they practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. e000996
Author(s):  
Natalie Liling Woong ◽  
Victoria Sze Min Ekstrom ◽  
Xiaohui Xin ◽  
Crystal Lim ◽  
Evelyn Swee Kim Boon ◽  
...  

Patients admitted to the isolation ward during the COVID-19 outbreak face multiple psychosocial stressors including the disruptive experience of being in quarantine, anxiety over contracting a newly emerging infectious disease and limited access to their healthcare team. This quality improvement project aims to leverage on technology to improve patients’ access to, and experience of, care while in isolation.Patients admitted to two isolation wards in Singapore General Hospital (SGH) between 28 February and 19 March 2020 were each provided an iPad loaded with the MyCare application (app), curated materials and mobile games. During this period, 83 of them accessed the device and the app. MyCare app is an app developed by the nursing team in SGH as part of an existing interprofessional collaboration to help patients navigate their care during their inpatient stay. In response to COVID-19, MyCare app was supplemented with materials to address affected patients’ informational and psychosocial needs. These materials included an information sheet on COVID-19, interviews with previous severe acute respiratory syndrome survivors, psychosocial support materials, and uplifting literature, illustrated storybooks and artwork.This paper describes the process of planning for, and executing, the intervention and reports the initial results of its effect. Initial feedback indicated a positive response to the intervention. 9 out of 10 respondents (90%) rated their hospital experience with a maximum of five stars and all 10 respondents (100%) rated the psychosocial support materials with five stars. Doctors managing the patients also observed a reduction in the number of commonly asked questions following the deployment of the iPad.This quality improvement project is ongoing with plans for further research to determine how to better support the psychosocial needs of patients in isolation during a novel disease outbreak. This report is written based on the Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence guidelines.


2021 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 178
Author(s):  
Willa Tavernier

Scholarly communication librarianship is a messy field. Its margins are ill-defined and ever- changing. There is a lack of curricular training in library schools and a lack of opportunities for early-career candidates. As a result, preparing librarians for a scholarly communication career presents a challenge. In this piece I discuss this messiness and describe my personal experiences in a residency position, showing how these kinds of positions support the professional development of scholarly communication librarians, with specific reference to the NASIG Core Competencies for scholarly communication librarians.


2013 ◽  
pp. 754-772
Author(s):  
Maria Elena Corbeil ◽  
Joseph Rene Corbeil

Professionals who want to remain competitive in their fields are turning to Web 2.0 to learn the knowledge and skills they need in order to do their work more efficiently and effectively. Through a detailed description of how one instructor transformed his online graduate courses into dynamic, interactive, ongoing online learning communities that extended beyond the classroom, this chapter provides academics and practitioners a model for establishing a professional network that learners can participate in, and replicate in their workplaces for their professional development and informal learning. An overview of the role of social networking in creating professional development and informal learning opportunities for cognitive apprenticeship, knowledge brokering, and ongoing online support communities, as well as the results of a survey conducted on students’ perceptions of the impact of the social networking strategies and tools on their professional development and informal learning in and out of class will also be discussed.


Author(s):  
Otto Carl Wilson Jr. ◽  
Seidah Armstrong

The design, implementation, and continuous improvement of professional development (PD) is a key component to address inherent challenges in helping our urban schools achieve their full potential for STREAM (STEM with integrated reading and arts) learning. While there are many types of PD, instructional coaching is one of the most promising strategies that can address both teacher and student needs on multiple levels. The DC FUSION STREAM PD Consortium was formed in 2017 with initial seed funding from the US Department of Education's Teacher Quality Improvement Grant Program. In this chapter, key aspects of the DC FUSION STREAM PD Consortium are described in the context of analogies for enhanced STREAM PD and how a broader view and implementation of instructional coaching can be used to transform teacher practice and effectiveness and elevate student achievement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 480-485
Author(s):  
Ulfat Shaikh ◽  
Peter Lachman ◽  
Andrew J Padovani ◽  
SiobhÁn E McCarthy

Abstract Objective Although frontline clinicians are crucial in implementing and spreading innovations, their engagement in quality improvement remains suboptimal. Our goal was to identify facilitators and barriers to the development and engagement of clinicians in quality improvement. Design A 25-item questionnaire informed by theoretical frameworks was developed, tested and disseminated by email. Settings Members and fellows of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare. Participants 1010 eligible participants (380 fellows and 647 members). Interventions None. Main Outcome Measures Self-efficacy and effectiveness in conducting and leading quality improvement activities. Results We received 212 responses from 50 countries, a response rate of 21%. Dedicated time for quality improvement, mentorship and coaching and a professional quality improvement network were significantly related to higher self-efficacy. Factors enhancing effectiveness were dedicated time for quality improvement, multidisciplinary improvement teams, professional development in quality improvement, ability to select areas for improvement and organizational values and culture. Inadequate time, mentorship, organizational support and access to professional development resources were key barriers. Personal strengths contributing to effectiveness were the ability to identify problems that need to be fixed, reflecting on and learning from experiences and facilitating sharing of ideas. Key quality improvement implementation challenges were adopting new payment models, demonstrating the business case for quality and safety and building a culture of accountability and transparency. Conclusions Our findings highlight areas that organizations and professional development programs should focus on to promote clinician development and engagement in quality improvement. Barriers related to training, time, mentorship, organizational support and implementation must be concurrently addressed to augment the effectiveness of other approaches.


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