'Train the trainers': How to introduce new technology
Be flexible with training schedule
Ensuring successful implementation of any new technology requires a great deal of preparation. Not only do you have to make sure you choose the right system with all of the components you need, but you also have to make sure your staff members know how to use it correctly in order to get the most benefit from your investment.
"We used a 'train-the-trainers' approach in which we had the vendor train a core group of staff members and then had them train employees throughout the agency," says Leslie Halchak, RN, director of professional services at Home Health Management in West Columbia, SC. Not only does this give you employees who can act as resources for others in the agency, but the training is more effective because it is presented by a staff member who really understands what is involved in home health, she says.
In addition to using traditional classroom seminars and system tutorials to teach employees how to use the new system of software and point-of-care tablets, Halchak's agency handed each clinician the tablet to play with during the class. "It was important that as they marked the location of wounds on an anatomical drawing of a man, they got to see that three light touches of the stylus would leave three marks," she explained.
While in the classroom, the clinicians also looked at all of the forms that would be included on the system, and practiced entering information and moving from one screen to another, says Halchak. "One of the key actions we took before implementing our new system was to redesign all of our printed forms to look exactly like the computerized forms."
By having nurses and therapists already using the forms that would appear on the computer, Halchak was able to focus on training for the use of the computer, not training on both the computer system and the new forms.
When planning your education sessions, don't forget your PRN staff, warns Halchak. "You have to be very flexible and offer training sessions at unconventional times such as Saturday morning or early evening," she says. "Be aware that your PRN staff will require more training and will probably take longer to learn the system because they are not using it every day."
Use your own guidebook
To help PRN and regular staff with day-to-day operation of the computers, the agency produced its own guidebook. "It starts with the very basics, such as, 'Turn your computer on with the button shown in this picture,' and goes on to show pictures of icons that the nurse needs to click," says Halchak. Even after several training sessions and practice at home, staff members like having the guidebook handy, she adds.
In-house or office staff members usually are more computer-savvy than the majority of field staff because they traditionally have been working with computers, points out Halchak. It is important to train them on the system, then switch over to the new system all at once, she says. "Some agencies choose to run dual systems, both the old and the new, at the same time for 60 days to give employees a chance to get used to the new system," she says. The difficulty with running both systems is that 60 days later, you may still be waiting for payments to post to the old system, and if you are asked a question about an account during the 60-day period, you have to figure out which system the account was entered in, she explains.
"We chose to bite the bullet and switch over all at once," says Halchak. "We worked weekends and late nights to key data into the new system from the old one; but once we switched over, everything went smoothly because everyone had to learn and use the new system at the same time."
In addition to training staff and providing resources to answer their questions, it is critical to talk positively throughout the process, says Halchak.
"Everyone involved with the implementation knew that we had to be positive. When we encountered problems, we discussed them behind closed doors in order to solve them without giving employees a negative impression of the system before it was implemented."
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