Nursing Education
The Clinical Practice & Learning team is committed to providing ongoing education to all nursing staff to ensure they remain current with new skills. In addition, the clinical educators provide courses which focus on knowledge and skills specific to programs offered within the organization such as Palliative Care and Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). The clinical educators incorporate several means to transfer knowledge and skills to the diverse adult learner population including learning packages, in-service education, orientation, eLearning and the educators' newsletter "the Scoop".
Nursing Orientation
New nursing employees must attend a comprehensive nursing orientation that focuses on specific nursing skills such as Tracheostomy Care, Intravenous Therapy, Care of Central Vascular Access Devices, Oxygen Therapy, Code Blue Procedures and orientation to Pharmacy Services. With guidance from the clinical educators, new nursing employees practise these various skills, hands-on. In addition to hands-on training, new nursing employees are introduced to the Education website which contains learning packages that are a great resource for nurses providing client care requiring specific skills.
Learning Management System (LMS)
Dual Code LMS is a learning management system (LMS) that facilitates the development, management, delivery and evaluation of classroom and online learning courses with associated reporting and compliance tracking capabilities. The Coordinators, Clinical Education use this system to create, assign and manage courses and in-services to appropriate nursing staff. Nurses access the system to register for online or classroom courses, and it provides them with a personal learning profile.
A Primer for Palliative Care
St. Joseph's Care Group offers a 15-hour Primer for Palliative Care course, designed specifically for Care Group staff by The Centre for Education and Research on Aging and Health (CERAH). This course is coordinated by the clinical educators and is facilitated by professionals from various disciplines with expertise in the area of palliative care. A Primer for Palliative care course provides nurses the opportunity to learn and develop skills that will enhance their ability to work with palliative care clients and their families. Participants gain a better understanding of attitudes towards death and dying in Canada, recognize the importance of cultural diversity and its impact on end-of-life care, have a better understanding of the physiology of pain and pharmacological methods for pain treatment, explore the importance of communication in end-of-life care, understand the various ways of viewing grief and bereavement, and, recognize some of the stresses and satisfactions associated with palliative care nursing.
Best Practice Guidelines
The Best Practice Guidelines Program was launched in 1999 by the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario. Funding for this program is provided by the government of Ontario. This program provides support for Ontario nurses by providing them with Best Practice Guidelines for client care. (Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario)
The Coordinators, Clinical Education continually refer to Best Practice Guidelines for strategies and recommendations that transfer directly to nurses through education and clinical skills development. The Coordinators, Clinical Education also demonstrate commitment to incorporating Best Practice Guidelines through consultation and mentoring of nursing staff to translate best practices into care strategies that promote self-directed learning.
Acquired Brain Injury Education
St. Joseph's Care Group offers a six week course on strategies dealing with clients who have an acquired brain injury (ABI). This course is facilitated by the clinical educators and encompasses a broad spectrum of healthcare professionals who have the expertise in ABI. The education is offered to nurses working on the ABI unit and provides them the opportunity to learn and develop their skills in ABI behaviours. At the completion of this course the nurse will have a better understanding of the neurophysiology, behaviours, medications used, and communication techniques involved with working with clients who have an ABI.
