Hospital establishes 3 levels of competency
Atlanta-based DeKalb Medical Center’s competency program for staff offers a three-tiered approach to cross-training.Here’s how it works:
• Core competencies.
All staff must pass the core competencies for all eight areas of the hospital covered by rehab services: acute care, inpatient rehab, outpatient, work hardening, arthritis care, aquatics, pediatrics, and minor emergency.
Core competencies are the basic minimum skills needed for entry-level performance. Each month, all therapists in each discipline go to a different area of the hospital for core competency training. (For details on how the training works, see related article, p. 62.)
Examples of core competencies include where charts and supplies are located and how to do daily documentation.
• Intermediate competencies.
All staff who have worked at the hospital at least a year and have not worked in another area besides their current area must be cross-trained on intermediate competency skills in another area of the hospital.
DeKalb defines intermediate competencies as routine tasks required for ongoing function as a team member. Cross-trained employees or regularly assigned team members need the critical thinking skills involved with the tasks.
Staff participating in the cross-training are assigned mentors in their chosen area. They have three months to complete the competencies and then must work a minimum of 12 hours a year in their area of cross-training to keep up their skills.
Examples of intermediate competencies for acute care physical therapy include: treating in a whirlpool, sterile techniques, treating with hot packs and cold packs, general gait training, and posture analysis.
• Specialty competencies.
Staff who choose to do so may increase their education and training by completing specialty competencies that give them skills beyond the routine performance requirement of the program area.
Staff may complete their specialty competencies by earning continuing education units by self-study, or by pairing with someone who has a specialty certification.
For example, an occupational therapist might choose to become modality-certified, or a physical therapist might become specialized in orthotics. Other examples of specialty competencies in the acute care setting would be fabricating lower extremity splinting, advanced positioning techniques, and advanced wound care.
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