Human Resource Development Issues - Case Study Example

Name: xxxxxxxxxxx Course: xxxxxxxxxxx Title: Human Resource Development Date: xxxxxxxxxxx Word count: 3136words Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Description of the Training Program 2 Training Program: The Integration of Tablet Computers into the Patient Management Systems at a Public Hospital Description of the Training Program The introduction of computerized or digital patient management systems in many hospitals was a timely and welcome adoption of modern technology in healthcare. Patient management systems enabled many hospitals or medical services providers to streamline their internal operations as they could access information such as patient medical history at the click of a mouse (Kho et al 2006). However, it also posed many practical challenges for nurses and other hospital staff. the existing technology, laptop and desktop computers, that were either forced to were bulky and cumbersome and medical staff had to make endless and inconveniencing trips between desktop stations or had to push along cumbersome laptop trolleys from laboratories to wards to other work stations (Robertson et al 2010). They also had short battery life and hindered interpersonal communication between nurses and patients as the nurses had to type in information while simultaneously interacting with the patient. Subsequently, this raised the analytical need for many public hospitals which had to look for alternatives to enhance their performance (Werner and DeSimone 2009). Therefore, the introduction of portable handheld tablet computers such as Apple’s iPad and Cisco’s Cius posed a viable and practical solution to the problem of portability in mobile healthcare. Tablet computers were considered an upgrade from PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) which had been proven to be popular with medical students and younger nurses. Studies by Lapinsky et al (2001) and Kho et al (2006) had suggested that improvements in the capabilities such as those offered by handheld PDA devices would be welcomed as convenient in mobile healthcare. However, introduction of tablet computers into a hospitals’ patient management system implies that employees should to possess the necessary skills to operate and maintain them. This posed a challenge for the hospital’s Human Resource Managers to develop the skills, knowledge and IT capabilities of hospital nurses to be able to use tablet computers. This Human Resource Development training program intends to facilitate the integration of tablet computers as a new technology into the patient management system at Armidale hospital. This is to be achieved through the training sessions that will equip the nurses at the hospital with the necessary skills to use the tablet computers in routine or emergency hospital activities such as accessing patient records from the hospital database, searching for medical references, viewing medical images such as graphs and x-rays, planning patient meals and medication, trending laboratory and medical reports and conducting follow up checks on patients. The training program is necessitated by a recent survey carried out on nurses and hospital staff in public hospitals which indicated that only 25 % of nursing staff had previously used tablet computers in any capacity as opposed to 40% for doctors. The survey also indicated that only 15% of the entries made into the hospital database were made by tablet computers (mostly doctors) and that nurses required an average of 2 and a half minutes to access patient data from the database. Contrasted against the results of an identical survey on private hospitals, this survey indicated that public hospitals were lagging behind in adoption of new technologies in mobile healthcare. In addition, a separate survey administered to patients revealed that patients were dissatisfied with the level of interpersonal communication between them and nurses who, as they reported, preoccupied with reading from clipboards and bulky laptops. The integration of tablet computer technology into the patient management system will therefore enable the hospital increase its efficiency. This is due to the many advantages that tablet computers offer over currently used laptop computers such as the networking and information sharing capability, ease of portability, reducing barriers between patients and hospital staff and reducing the costs associated with printing medical records (Mobihealthnews 2011). The training program is to be implemented on rotational basis over a three month period which will allow sufficient time to reach each member of hospital staff. The program will cover introduction to tablet computers, applications of tablet computers in healthcare, networking, operations and maintenance of tablet devices, safety precautions while using tablet devices and practical application of tablet computers in the workplace. Program Objectives The primary objective of the program is ensure that as many of the hospital nursing staff as is possible are equipped with the skills necessary to use tablet computers. Subsequently, the program aims to facilitate the integration of tablet computer technology into the hospital’s patient management system. By training nursing staff to use tablet computer applications, the program subsequently intends to reduce communication barriers between patients and hospital staff, reduce the expenditure on paper and other print medium used to display medical images and reduce the reaction time in accessing information from the hospital database. Specifically, the hospital intends to reduce triage times in attending to and treating patients in cases of emergencies, routine checks and follow up visits. Achieving these objectives will enable the hospital improve its service delivery and subsequently attract further funding for its operations from government. Specific Objectives To raise overall competency in tablet computer operation, application and maintenance from 25% (75 employees) to at least 75% of hospital staff (225 employees). To increase application of tablet computers in patient data entry, retrieval, medical image or information display and other activities from current 15% to 50%. To obtain positive patient feedback regarding communication between them and nurses or medical practitioners. To reduce the short run costs associated with printing and sharing medical images such as x rays, CAT scans and MRIs by at least 40 %. To reduce the average time taken by nurses to retrieve patient data from a recorded average of 2.5 minutes to 1 minute. Benefits and Limitations of the Program to Employees The training program offers a unique opportunity for the hospitals’ employees to upgrade their computer and IT competency and skills. As a result of the program, many employees will have a better understanding of how to use tablet devices and this will provide them with skills that may be necessary for future career development. In addition, the program will enable employees carry out their duties more effectively and efficiently. They will be able to save time and effort spent in long and tedious tasks such as data retrieval and displaying images to patients (Mobihealthnews 2011). Tablet computers will also enable staff to access medical information such as references to drugs or various procedures which reduce the burden imposed on nurses (Robertson et al 2010). Such HRD practices enable employees to carry out their duties in a more relaxed and implicitly more productive manner (Werner & DeSimone 2009). However, the program also has potential limitations for current nursing staff or employees. Employees without previous working knowledge or outdated training credentials in IT (such as Windows 98) may find integration into the program difficult and may have to be retrained. Benefits and Limitations of the Program to the Hospital By upgrading the IT competency of its employees, the training program aims to increase the overall operational efficiency of the hospital. The integration of tablet computers into the patient management system will enhance service delivery at the hospital by streamlining both routine and emergency medicinal activities such as rapid networked access to patient profile data and sharing of medical images such as graphs, x-rays and CAT scans between nurses and doctors (Robertson et al 2010). The use of tablet devices would also help the hospital meet performance benchmarks such as triage times. The program also intends to reduce the costs associated with printing and sharing medical images with both patients and doctors since the tablet devices have the capability to store, access and display such images (Mobihealthnews 2011). The program also seeks positive feedback from patients since the tablet devices will be instrumental in enhancing communication between patients and medical practitioners or nurses. This is due to the advantages tablet devices offer over laptops or paper charts which often consume much of the doctor or nurses’ attention and limit eye contact with patients (Robertson et al 2010). However, the training program requires heavy short term investment in purchase and maintenance of tablet computers and hiring certified trainers which may escalate short run costs for the hospital. The portability of tablet computers also exposes the hospital to the risk of theft as devices purchased by the hospital can be easily concealed by dishonest employees. Therefore, the hospital has to invest in upgrading its security systems to deter and detect such cases of theft. The hospital may also have to retrain some employees in introductory computer courses to make them eligible for participation in the program. These challenges may have negative implications for the success of the program (Werner and DeSimone 2009). The training sessions are also scheduled on working days for three months which implies that the hospital may operate at only 60 to 70 % of capacity. This may be difficult to rationalize in cases of emergencies which may necessitate disruptions in the training program. Training Delivery Methods Based on the results of the earlier survey, the program will first identify the target population. This is constituted of the 75% employees who reported being unfamiliar with operating tablet computers. The employees who will participate in the training program will be selected on a voluntary basis. Employees will be encouraged to participate in the training program through the incentive of certificates indicating successful completion of the program and upgraded IT competency. According to Bartlett (2001), perceived access to training is likely to elicit a favorable response from the nurses. The program targets a minimum of 150 employees who will be trained on a rotational basis of 50 employees per session. The program will be delivered over a three week period with each group of 50 employees apportioned three weeks for learning. The program will use an appropriate mix of both instructional and experiential approaches to ensure that the training offered is relevant to both the hospital and the nurses involved (Werner & DeSimone 2009). The session will make use of trainers hired from the various tablet computer manufacturers’ maintenance stores and certified mobile health experts. The trainers, such as from Apple stores, will deliver the introductory courses and will guide participants through basic operations, maintenance and safety precautions while using devices such as Apple’s iPad, Cisco’s Cius and Blackberry’s PlayBook in the first week. These sessions will be conducted through classroom training where groups of up to 50 employees will be granted afternoon leave to attend the sessions which will be held in the hospitals’ conference facilities on site. Hospital supervisors will be at hand to take attendance and monitor the participation of the nursing staff. The various tablet devices and copies of their instruction manuals will be availed to the employees for this session. The sessions will co-opt lectures, discussions between participants and audiovisual presentations using PowerPoint and projectors. This is meant to create a more interactive session where participants will be able to seek clarification and give feedback to the instructors as to how to proceed (Werner & DeSimone 2009). In the second week of training, mobile health experts will be hired to demonstrate to the participants how to use the various applications found in the tablet computer such as accessing the hospital’s wireless network, access, entry and retrieval of patient data and patient follow up and monitoring. These sessions will be hands-on and experiential in nature and participants will be required to demonstrate their understanding of how to use the various mobile health applications. The supervisors will be at hand to coach the nursing staff and correct any performance problems that they may have or clarify any outstanding issues. The last week of training will essentially involve practical application of the tablet computers into the nurses’ activities. Closely monitored by instructors, the nurses will be monitored and evaluated on their ability to use the devices in the real world context of a normal working day at the hospital. Training Outline The training will be conducted over a three month period to enable penetration of as many staff as possible. The participants will be divided into three groups named A, B and C. Each group will consist of no more than 50 nurses. Each group will be attended to by one instructor. This 1:50 ratio is suitable- small enough to enable the trainers attend to the needs of individual nurses but large enough to enable an expedient training program (Werner and DeSimone 2009). Group A will undergo training in the first month with group B and C attending the sessions in the subsequent second and third month. The hospitals’ conference room and lecture theatre, which will have been booked in advance, will be used interchangeably to accommodate any emergencies. There will be three sessions every week scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The first week will offer introductory courses in operations, maintenance and safety precautions while using tablet devices. The second week will focus on familiarizing participants with medical and health applications of tablet computers. The third week will be a practical course where employees will be required to demonstrate what they have learned. They will be accompanied by supervisors as they demonstrate their ability to integrate tablet devices into their daily nursing routines. List and Description of Training Materials Material Description Quantity Tablet Computers These are the actual devices that nursing staff will be trained to use. The program will train employees how to use Apple’s iPad, Cisco’s Cius and BlackBerry’s PlayBook. These will be procured by the hospital as part of a program to upgrade the patient management system. 50 iPads, 50 Cius and 50 PlayBook. Total of 150 tablet devices. Stationery The writing materials to be used by the employees to take notes during the training sessions. These include notebooks, pens and markers. 150 notebooks, 150 pens and 150 board markers for participants. 15 board markers for instructors. Projector The projector will be used in the audiovisual sessions to demonstrate medical applications of tablet devices. 1 Whiteboards The whiteboard will be used by trainers during the course of lessons to provide instructional knowledge. 1 Speakers To be used with the projector in the audiovisual sessions 1 set of four surround speakers Evaluation Plan for the Training Program The short term evaluation plans for the training program will be based on Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels Evaluation Model. Kirkpatrick’s framework will be used to evaluate the program in terms of reaction, learning, performance and results. As a short term evaluation plan, reaction will be gauged through attitude questionnaires which will be administered to the employees before and immediately after the training sessions. The questionnaires will determine how the nursing staff or employees perceive the training program and whether it is relevant to their career. Specifically, the questionnaires will determine whether the employees are open or resistant to the idea of using tablet computers and whether they would be willing to participate in the training program. The questionnaires administered to the participants before the training sessions will focus on whether the employees feel that they need to attend the sessions and the questionnaires administered immediately after the first week’s sessions will monitor if the participants’ perceptions of the program have changed. It is important that the nursing staff react positively to the training program for it to be successful. In the event that initial response to the program is negative, the employees will be asked for suggestions on how to improve the program and this will subsequently provide an objective basis for modifications to the program design. However, a study conducted on nurses by Bartlett (2001) found a positive relationship between perceived access to training opportunities and organizational commitment. Therefore, it is expected that the nurses will react positively to opportunities offered by the training program. The second level of evaluation, learning, will determine the extent to which the employees have gained the skills or attitudes intended by the training program or consistent with its objectives. Learning will be evaluated through learner assessments which are built into the program design. Typically, evaluation of the learning process seeks to answer the questions what knowledge was acquired by participants? What skills were enhanced or developed? Which attitudes were changed in the course of the program? (Kirkpatrick 1994) .Specifically, learning evaluation of this training program will test whether the employees gained comprehensive theoretical and practical knowledge of how to use tablet devices such as the iPad in their work setting. Learning assessment will be both informal (through trainer’s observation) and formal (through learner evaluation forms administered at the last session of each week). The third level of evaluation in Kirkpatrick’s framework is performance evaluation. Performance evaluation will test the employee’s ability to apply the skills they have learned in the workplace (Kirkpatrick 1994). Since the program incorporates both practical and instructional learning approaches, performance will be monitored mainly by instructor observation. This will take place during the third week of training. The participants will be monitored on their ability to use the tablet devices to perform tasks such as retrieving patient data using the tablet devices, entering data or uploading patient information into the system or how effectively they can retrieve and display medical images to patients. The last level of evaluation in Kirkpatrick’s framework is results. At this level, evaluation simply seems to establish whether the program has achieved its intended objectives or whether it has simply produced results (Kirkpatrick 1994). Has it raised IT competency? Has it achieved the 40% reduction in costs? Has it lowered triage times and the speed of data retrieval by half? This evaluation will be in the form of a report from coordinated activities such as an employee survey. The long term evaluation plans for the training program will be based on Kaplan’s balanced scorecard approach. This approach essentially examines the impact or returns of the training program from four perspectives: financial, customer, internal and innovation and learning (Kaplan and Norton 2001). Financially, the evaluation will determine whether the hospital has managed to realize the 40 % reduction in costs due to successful implementation of the training program. From the customer perspective, the evaluation will determine whether the training program has enabled the hospital to improve its service delivery to customers as compared to other hospitals in the area. In the context of this program, this will evaluate the hospital’s IT compliance. The third perspective is achievement of internal excellence. This will evaluate whether the training program has improved the hospitals’ internal processes through measures such as triage times and lower long-run costs. The final evaluation perspective is innovation and learning. This evaluates whether the training program contributes to organizational change, innovation in healthcare and the personal growth of the hospital’s employees (Kaplan and Norton 2001). References Bartlett, K. R., 2001, ‘The Relationship between Training and Organizational Commitment: A study in the Health care Field’, Human Resource Development Quarterly, vol.12, no. 2, pp. 335–352. Kaplan, R. & Norton, D., 2001, The Strategy-Focused Organization: How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrive in the New Business Environment, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA. Kho, A., Henderson, L., Dressler, D. & Kripalani S., 2006, ‘Use of Handheld Computers in Medical Education: A Systematic Review’, Journal of General Internal Medicine, vol. 21, no. 5, pp 531–537. Kirkpatrick, D., 1994, Evaluating Training Programs, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc, San Francisco. Lapinsky, S., Weshler, J., Mehta, S., Varkul M., Hallett D. & Stewart, T., ‘Handheld Computers in Critical Care’, Critical Care, vol. 5, no.4, pp. 227-31 Mobihealthnews, 2011, The Coming Medical Tablet War: iPad, Android, BlackBerry, HP and Others Vie to Dominate in Healthcare, Retrieved on April 28, 2011 from Robertson, I., Miles, E. & Bloor, J., 2010, The iPad and Medicine. Retrieved on April 30, 2011 from Werner, J. & DeSimone, R., 2009, Human Resource Development, 5th Ed, Cengage Learning, Mason, OH. Read More