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Professional Development Goes Back to Class: How Innovative Methods Are Changing the Way Nurses Learn
BY JULIA QUINN-SZCESUIL
Any professional needs to keep current with industry developments, and nurses know positive patient outcomes depend on their understanding of the latest developments. Obtaining and maintaining specialty certification, long a traditional step for professional development and advancement, is seen as a reliable path for nurses to gain additional knowledge and skills.
But some are finding the course delivery for these professional development opportunities hasn’t kept pace with the innovation that’s quickly transforming health care.
Some nursing organizations say adapting to the times means reassessing how nurses learn and redesigning courses and activities to include artificial intelligence (AI), gaming methods, or quizzes. Making the courses accessible from mobile devices and available on demand for convenience removes some barriers as well.
What does this broadened approach mean for nurses?
Starting with Standards
Changing the way nurses learn is no small task. For years, nursing education was grounded in the classroom, says Jennifer Graebe, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Director of Nursing Continuing Professional Development and Joint Accreditation Program for the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Traditional lectures and presentations have a place in education, but they aren’t always the best way for nurses to learn and retain new knowledge, especially in non-degree settings such as certification or CE.
Innovation, Graebe says, changes the way nurses learn across the entire arc of their careers. “Professional development and continuing education isn’t a one and done,” she says. “It should be outcomes driven.” Graebe says that begins with an accreditation process that looks at the content integrity and standards for credentialing bodies and assesses how nurses produce, use, and engage with course content. Connecting professional development to high-quality patient outcomes is essential, she says, so any kind of professional enrichment should target the right method for an identified skill, knowledge, or practice gap.
Respecting the Learning Process
Jim Stobinski, PhD, RN, CNOR, CNAMB, CSSM(E), CEO of the Competency & Credentialing Institute (CCI) Research Foundation and president elect of the American Board of Nursing Specialties (ABNS) says information learned years ago might not be relevant to the patient in the room today. “You have to be a lifelong learner,” he says. “To take good care of your patients and to maintain competency, you have to do that.” But the traditional way of learning doesn’t necessarily make a better nurse, he says, and revising education for health professionals is how improvement happens.
A screen shot from BCEN’s Learn “Human Trafficking” CE course showing “hot spot” interactivity as learner gets to know what red flags to look for in Lesson 1: “What is Human Trafficking?” See full image at: https://bit.ly/3uFftJO
Image courtesy of BCEN
Tech-based approaches that require active engagement and also give nurses control over the process are important for a couple of reasons. “The more engaged a nurse is, the more likely the learning will stick and the nurse will be able to apply it,” says Graebe. “That’s not just a knowledge gain, but it can be applied in a practice environment.”
If nurses connect what they are learning with their job duties, they’re going to have a better learning experience and see improvement in their daily practice. The assumption that earning continuing education credits will help nurses stay current or increase their competency isn’t always accurate, Stobinski says.
In response to this perceived imbalance, CCI overhauled its own certification approach, even building a custom learning management system (LMS) that offers new content that’s based less on time logged and more on learning objectives. It also tracks the different ways nurses choose to engage. In a big change, CCI nurses no longer renew their certification solely by CE. “We award professional development points for engaging and learning activities,” says Stobinski. To boost the appeal even more, CCI-credentialed nurses access all the information in the LMS for no charge.
Weaving Tech-infused Course Content
By continually refreshing content and using technology for some engaging features, learning remains exciting and effective, says Janie Schumaker, MBA, RN, CEN, CPHQ, CENP, FABC, CEO of the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN) and past president of the ABNS. Boardcertified nurses, she says, have the knowledge, tools, and skills to be confident in their roles, so keeping those nurses committed to gaining new knowledge has a positive long-range impact on the nursing industry. Many organizations expect and want nurses to achieve certification, so making sure the materials used for certification, professional development, and continuing education is directly related to a nurse’s responsibilities is critical.
As workplaces become ever more tech-oriented, learning opportunities need to keep pace. Standard slide presentations and lectures are giving way to course features like gamification, 3-D figures, or even trivia-style activities that are easily accessible from a mobile device, says Schumaker. Each BCEN course has a corresponding job aid, often with potential situations nurses may encounter, available as a reference. “Then, when nurses are in a clinical setting, they can draw that line,” says Schumaker. “You can read it in a book, but a scenario helps drive it home.”
Innovation Begins with Learning
Flipping the traditional certification and continuing education structure isn’t without controversy. While these changes won’t appeal to every nurse, they align with nursing industry progress.
An example from BCEN’s popular “Ventilators Part 2: Advanced Management” CE course showing ventilatory settings information. See full image at: https://bit.ly/2YexhiM
Image courtesy of BCEN
“You have to think of who your audience is,” Stobinski says. “We believe whatever we do for professional development should contribute to competency as a nurse.” Graebe agrees, saying that progressive developments naturally impact the how, when, what, and why nurses learn. Even evaluation and remediation can happen in real time with digital courses, as nurses can receive immediate feedback and improve right away.
As cutting-edge modalities shift the landscape of certification, continuing education, and professional development, the focus remains on patient outcomes and helping nurses do their jobs.
An example from BCEN’s popular “Ventilators Part 2: Advanced Management” CE course showing an interactive patient scenario. See full image at: https://bit.ly/3l7VWhP
Image courtesy of BCEN
“We recognize that learning happens all the time, so we look at how we can facilitate that and capture it in activities,” says Graebe. “Professional development is going to have a huge place in the future to keep nurses at the bedside and engaged.”
Nurses need to see real career growth from their efforts, and they want to be energized by what and how they are learning. “Nurses,” Schumaker says, “want something other than the talking head.”
