Elearning is quickly growing in popularity throughout the healthcare sector, offering a cost-effective and time-saving solution that can empower staff to develop new skills in a flexible, user-friendly way. However, like any other form of skills training, elearning requires ongoing assessment to ensure that courses are effective and up-to-date.
Verify course compliance
One of the first things to check before making a purchase is that your course is compliant with statutory standards. If not, it may be lacking essential information, or offer incorrect training. This will leave learners underprepared, and with potentially false ideas, which could put patient care at risk.
It is also important to note that even an approved course may not be ideal. Some elearning applications are unwieldy and require training to use, which could mean extra costs and more time out before staff members are able to access the material. Others may appear overly wordy and intimidating, which could make it harder for learners to engage and absorb the relevant information.
Find out if your provider offers after-sales support, and explore reviews to discover whether other learners have found their courses accessible and user-friendly.
Regular updates
A significant advantage of online courses is that they can be instantly updated with the latest guidelines and practices. This facilitates the implementation of new policy, and enables the rollout of new legislation to happen smoothly across the entire country. Furthermore, the information is presented in exactly the same way to every user, ensuring consistency across the board.
However, it is vital to ensure your elearning system is kept up-to-date, and that users are made aware if they need to review new material. Furthermore, if you have team members who do not have English as their first language, it can be helpful to look into courses available in translation.
Low-pressure learning
Another matter to consider is the availability of the course to users in their downtime. While it has been widely accepted that allowing users to work from home and at their own pace reduces the pressure and stress associated with training, there is an argument that round-the-clock access can have the opposite effect.
The suggestion is that busy individuals may feel pressurised to fit in regular learning sessions, even when feeling tired and overworked. This can have a negative impact on health and is also likely to mean they take in less information. Work with your team to determine a solution that enables training in accordance with individual schedules, not on top of them. You can also keep track of progress and follow up with individuals if they seem to be struggling, or you are concerned they may be doing too much.
Regular feedback can be extremely beneficial, as you can ensure each individual is ready for the next stage of training. It also enables you to adapt your programme to suit specific needs within your team, and improve it for the next round of training.
Reinforce new skills
Finally, while there are undoubted benefits to elearning courses, it is vital to reinforce the skills developed by following up with on-the-job assessment. This helps to cement the information learned, and ensures that knowledge is applied correctly.
If team members are passing the course, but still struggling with the follow-up assessment, it may be the case that the information within the course is not presented comprehensively, or in a manner that translates well to the associated tasks.
The gradual adoption of elearning can transform your workforce, facilitating the development of mandatory core skills with great efficiency and in a cost-effective manner. The trick is to manage the transition properly, and for more detailed insight you can download our free guide: How to successfully implement elearning into healthcare practices.
Content on this page is produced and paid for by Skills for Health
