Providing educational opportunities for healthcare workers has always been a challenge. Even in the days of greater staffing and funding, it was often difficult to schedule time off for staff to attend educational programs. Budget constraints forced managers to limit the number of people to attend programs, especially if travel costs were involved.

Today, managers of hospital departments are facing even greater financial, staffing, and scheduling issues when they try to provide quality educational programs for their employees. Managers realize the need for programs that keep their staff updated on current practices and motivate them to improve their job performance. In-service programs are conducted, but are often sandwiched in between other activities and may be poorly attended. Donna McLaughlin, Sterile Processing Manager at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, recently teamed with STERIS Corporation to provide several successful educational programs with minimal cost and effort. There was no required pre-registering and no charge for attending these events, and attendees received valuable continuing education credit. Here are a few basic steps that were followed during the planning and execution of these seminars:

STEP 1
Commit to having a program
The decision to provide an educational program must include the commitment to see the project through. The success of any program is dependent on one person assuming responsibility for the project and taking a leadership role. This leader must then coordinate all planning and staffing efforts and work closely with vendors. When the details seem overwhelming, getting support and delegating some of the workload not only reduces the number of details any one person has to handle, but it also builds interest and gives team members a feeling of contributing to the success of the program. Discuss the planned program with other CS managers and hospital department managers. This is a key to getting interest and support for the program. Also involve staff members in the planning. Involvement gives staff an opportunity to add their ideas and to feel like a part of the team.

STEP 2
Talk with your vendors
Find out what free educational programs are available from the vendors with whom you do business. Many vendors have clinical/education specialists who provide free educational programs for customers and professional organizations. They have a variety of topics, so program planners can choose subjects that will be of interest to the target audience. Once you have a list of possible topics, call other CS and nursing managers in the community to get their input on the topics that would be attractive for their staff. If a vendor does not offer a free program of interest, you may ask the vendor to consider subsidizing a program. Vendors are sometimes willing to make a donation for the opportunity to display their products or services at the meeting. Funds may be available from local professional societies or a minimal charge may be necessary. Sometimes a combination of income sources can provide for program costs.

STEP 3
Meet with the vendor and speaker
Set a meeting with the vendor and speaker. This is the opportunity to discuss and determine the following:

Low cost location:
• Check to see if your hospital facility/campus has an auditorium or conference area with AV equipment that is available for a program free of charge. For planners who do not have this type of facility, it may be necessary to ask another facility for use of their space. If you have to pay for the conference site or the AV equipment this could result in a need to charge for the conference. Keep in mind the number of possible attendees so that adequate seating is provided.
• The facility should also have adequate restroom facilities, a location for registration and refreshments, and nearby parking at minimal or no charge.
• Once a location has been found, have the vendor and speaker tour the conference area. This will give them a visual about things like the lighting and presentation area, and help determine what equipment may be needed (AV screens, hook-ups, and microphones, for example).

Date:
• When setting the date for the program, it is important to confirm that there are no other concurrent events that would be a conflict for attendees. Scheduling your program at the same time as major holidays, popular sporting events, typical vacation times, or other scheduled professional meetings and national conferences should be avoided.
• For facilities that do not have budget allocations for staff education, offering the program on the weekend or "after work hours" may be an option. Some states are requiring that CS staff be certified. Certification requires the completion of a number of educational courses annually, so some employees are more willing to attend programs on personal time.

Topics and audience:
• Identify who your target audience will be and what topics would be of interest to all in this targeted group.
• It is important to know what topics have been offered at past conferences and to choose ones that may be "hot topics" or have a wide appeal.
• Decide the duration and scheduling of the program. Presenting two half-day programs would allow for more attendees and make it easier for department managers to schedule personnel and avoid having to replace staff for an entire shift. Two topics per session could be offered and the same program could be presented in the morning and afternoon sessions.

Contact hours:
• Since many nurses, CS technicians, and other healthcare professionals need contact hours for professional advancement, this is an important consideration. Most vendors have approved programs for nursing and CS Technicians. If not, you may have to obtain approval for a program through nursing and CS-related professional organizations.
• Sometimes your vendor’s education departments will assist you in gaining approval for your programs.

Brochure:
• Brochures can be time consuming to develop. If you or another staff member already have a brochure that is well designed, it may be beneficial to use it as a template for developing the new brochure.
• Include the name of the program, date(s) and time(s), agenda, program objectives, presenter information, target audience, contact person, parking information, and maps showing the location of the venue.
• Also include information about the benefits of this program to managers, employees, and facilities. This can be used by potential attendees to convince their managers of the importance of attending.
• Some vendors provide a template for a program brochure. If you choose to use a template, it will take minimal time to enter the details of your event.
• Printing for brochures can be provided by the vendor, or the local CS organization may assist with the cost.

Advertisement:
• Successful attendance at any program is directly related to effective marketing! Relevant hospital departments within a 90-mile radius should be targeted to receive brochures. A list of hospitals can be easily accessed from the internet. Local professional societies, surgical centers, and outpatient clinics should be included.
• Other means of advertisement such as hospital and agency newsletters and public announcements via TV and radio should be considered.
• Vendor account managers can extend personal invitations to their contacts.
• Mailing lists can be obtained from professional organizations and postage may be paid for by the vendor or another sponsor.

STEP 4
Miscellaneous details
• Vendors who offer clinical education programs can provide evaluation forms and program certificates with documented contact hours. If not provided by vendors, certificates and evaluation forms can be easily developed.
• Tables for personnel to use for sign-in and other work should be pre-arranged to reduce the number of last minute details.
• It’s important to enlist enough of your staff members to work at the event, in order to reduce waiting time for attendees, assist with collection of evaluation forms, and present certificates.
• Consider having a staff member with audio visual (AV) experience available to help with the initial set-up of equipment and to troubleshoot any problems that may occur during the program.
• Providing half-day programs can eliminate the need for luncheon arrangements. Serving simple pastries in the morning and cookies in the afternoon provide cost-effective snacks.

Conclusion
Providing a quality educational program for healthcare workers can be accomplished successfully with minimal cost and effort. The basic requirements are to commit to the process of planning and executing the entire program, include other stakeholders in the process to ease the workload and gain valuable ideas and involvement, and find a vendor that is willing to coordinate efforts with you.

The following checklist summarizes the steps discussed in this article and provides a useful tool for the planning process. It will help to clarify roles, create assignments, and complete successful education programs for healthcare professionals in any local area.

Well-trained and educated healthcare providers have more to offer their workplace. Their knowledge can benefit both the patients and other staff. By making the process simpler and more straightforward, more educational programs will be successfully completed and more knowledge shared. HPN

Suggested Reading
Conducting a workshop:
Selman, S W and Zorn, K; Orthopedic Nursing/ National Association of Orthopedic Nurses. Nov-Dec 1998, 17 p. 43-8.

Running a seminar:
Cook, R; Emergency nurse-the journal of the RNC Accident and Emergency Nursing Association. April 1998, p. 18-20.