Tip: The four E’s of staff education

by Amanda Southworth

Educating CDI staff and physicians alike can be a challenge. With busy schedules, resistant physicians, and a constantly changing healthcare environment, even the most seasoned educator can feel like pulling their hair out.

By keeping in mind four E’s, however, educating becomes a bit more manageable.

Efficient: Educational sessions should seek to get to the point quickly. With busy and fluid schedules, each educational session should have a focused point. Even if the timeframe incorporates a couple different subjects—say, clinical indicators and querying—each section still needs a point and direction. This will cut down on wasted time during your limited education space.

Effective: This one feels like a no-brainer but, this is less straightforward and involves lots of planning and a deeper understanding of the audience’s needs. One way to accomplish this is to ask the staff what education style they prefer. This gives the educator a window into the students’ minds and helps in developing training which will give you the most bang for your buck.

Evolving: Your education should change over time to keep students engaged. It’s easy to get stuck in a training rut—doing the same type of educational session over and over again. However, this trap leads to disengaged and bored staff who won’t get as much out of the information presented. Getting feedback after educational sessions will help identify areas for growth and evolution. A method that worked for one group of staff members may not necessarily work with the next group. Pay attention to how your staff uses the education they’ve received.

Evaluative: Evaluative education helps keep all the other E’s in line. Rather than providing education and sending the staff out into the world with no follow up, incorporating a feedback or test-your-knowledge piece will ensure the education stays up to date and fully effective. As more and more education sessions take place, having data from each session enables educators to look back and identify techniques that worked and those that did not work. Plus, proving the effectiveness of your educational efforts through data helps achieve administrative support for further physician and staff educational sessions.

Editor’s note: Amanda Southworth is an associate e-learning producer with ACDIS and HCPro. After attending the Association of Talent Development International Conference and Exposition in Atlanta, she brought back a number of training tips to incorporate into our e-learning courses. To see a complete list of HCPro’s e-learning opportunities, click here.