Flexibility, teamwork and support for training of nursing and clinical staff were key ingredients in the successful launch of electronic clinical documentation (ClinDoc) for units at Victoria General Hospital (VGH), according to both management and the nurses themselves.
With staff already under pressure due to labour shortages and the ongoing pandemic response, finding time to train in the new technology was a challenge. David White, manager of the high acuity unit on 7S, recognized how stretched his nursing staff felt. A month before “go live” with the lowest training completion rates at the hospital, he knew that paying overtime for nurses to complete their training at home was not going to be enough.
“People are so busy that they just weren’t even getting it done. I found the best case was just getting backfilling on the unit,” says David.
To support David and other managers, the IHealth project team worked with Human Resources to provide a detailed list of daily training statistics.
“That list was really my bible every morning”, says David, who kept close track of completion rates, and shepherded the unit to readiness on time for their launch date.
The 4S medical unit also emphasized a team-based approach to training, and backfilled their nursing staff with extra staff. Unit manager Alison Simard put on scrubs and returned to nursing duty in order to give her staff time to train.
Clinical Nurse Educator Bonnie Hannam says of the preparations her unit made, “We’ve worked really hard. And Alison saying ‘This MUST be a priority’ really helped, so we made it happen.” In addition to backfilling, the floor celebrated 50 per cent training completion with a pizza party and 75 per cent completion with a draw for FIGS scrubs, provided by the manager.
“Go live” began at VGH on October 4 with medical staff in all acute areas and clinical staff in surgical and related units. The launch then expanded to the rest of the hospital October 25, with the exception of the perinatal units that go live later this month.
Huge kudos to the managers for their amazing support, and to the clinical teams for a smooth transition!
