To better protect workers from hazardous chemicals, the U.S. Department of Labor’s OSHA has revised its Hazard Communication Standard to align with the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). While the original Hazard Communication Standard, HCS 1983, was commonly referred to as the “Employee Right to Know,” the revised standard now provides for the “Employee Right to Understand.” With the goal of increasing worker comprehension about the hazards in their work environment, the revised standard requires companies to employ the use of a standardized format for Safety Data Sheets (SDSs), as well as new labeling elements for chemicals. OSHA is rolling out this change in phases over the next several years, culminating in a final deadline of June 1, 2016.
New Requirements Aimed at Healthcare Worker Safety
The first compliance deadline is December 1, 2013. By this time, all facilities must provide training on new chemical label elements and safety data sheets. In response to this rule, HealthStream has teamed up with MAXCOM to offer 19 GHS specific training modules that focus on every class of chemical an employee might come across in their working environment.
To address the enormous amount of chemicals used in hospitals, OSHA amended the rule to allow chemical training to be provided by groups of chemicals. They write, “where there are large numbers of chemicals, or the chemicals change frequently, you will probably want to train generally based on the hazard categories.”
Hazardous Chemicals Are Common in Health Care Facilities
Chemicals in use in the healthcare environment may be hazardous due to potential for toxicity, corrosiveness, and reactivity. In addition to the usual routes of exposure by inhalation, ingestion, skin and eye contacts, a health care provider can also inadvertently self-inject a toxic drug intended for a patient.
These groups of chemicals include:
- Chemical disinfectants commonly used in health care facilities are often corrosive and/or toxic. Glutaraldehyde, sodium hypochlorite, iodine, phenols, formaldehyde, and quaternary ammonium compounds are all corrosive. In addition to being corrosive and toxic, some disinfectants such as quaternary ammonium compounds (benzalkonium chloride, Zephiran chloride, Rodalon) also cause contact dermatitis. Glutaraldehyde solution has to be freshly prepared every 2 weeks, and due to its volatile characteristic employees often inhale its vapors. Formaldehyde used for cold sterilization of instruments and as a disinfectant not only has noxious odor but also causes dermatitis and has been shown to cause nasal and other cancers in experimental animals.
- Freons such as Freon 12 (dichlorodifluoromethane), Freon 11 (fluorotrichloromethane), and Freon 22 (chlorodifluoromethane) are routinely used in pathology laboratories (to prepare frozen tissue sections), in aerosol cans as a propellant, as a refrigerant gas, and mixed with ethylene oxide (a sterilant). Freons can freeze the skin and eyes and cause depression of the central nervous system resulting in dizziness, convulsions, and irregular heartbeat.
- Methyl Methacrylate, commonly used in operating rooms for securing surgical prostheses to bone, has to be mixed just before a procedure often resulting in inhalation of the product. Methyl methacrylate affects the central nervous system, is an irritant and may cause low blood pressure and cardiac arrest. The product also has been linked to birth defects, though not cancer.
- Peracetic Acid (PAA) or Peroxyacetic Acid is used to sterilize medical instruments, and also present in laboratories, and patient care units. PAA is a severe irritant, and have been linked to skin papillomas (wart-like tumors), and liver, kidney, and heart problems.
- Solvents (such as Dioxane, Xylene, and Benzene) used mostly as cleaning agents in housekeeping are central nervous system depressants and irritants. Chronic exposure to solvents have been linked to effects on blood formation, kidneys, liver, birth defects, and cancer.
- Anesthetic Gases exposure usually occurs in operating rooms, labor, delivery and recovery rooms; and ER. Gases often leak from the instruments, and in the recovery room are present due to the exhaled breath of post-operative patients. Effects of anesthetic gases on health care employees are similar to the one experienced by patients. Although short-term exposure only causes dizziness and disorientation, long term exposure may cause cancer, birth defects, and liver and kidney damage.
- Ethylene Oxide used to sterilize equipment also exposes employees in surgery units and central supply. Ethylene oxide is a corrosive, causes destruction of red blood cells, and inflammation of lungs. It is also a carcinogen and a fire hazard.
- Cytotoxic Drugs (such as cyclophosphamide, chlorambucil, and melphan) used for treatment of cancer, also cause cancer and damage to the reproductive system of health care employees. Accidental injection of a drug such as mitomycin-C can cause loss of function of a hand; and drugs such as mustine hydrochloride and doxorubicin are powerful vesicants (corrosives). Exposure to the smallest amount of bleomycin can cause severe allergic reaction.
- Pesticides ( Mecoprop, Metolochlor), Rodenticide ( Bromaldiolane and Diphacinone) and Fungicide such as Mancozeb are routinely used by hospitals as a biocide. Most are toxic to the nervous system, damage kidneys and liver, and cause allergic reactions.
Safer Substitutes
Less hazardous products can be substituted for many though not all hazardous chemical products in health care facilities. For example:
- For Ethylene oxide in most instances: safer hydrogen peroxide 7.5% solution, peracetic acid or a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid. Even hypochlorite (bleach)is effective in some disinfection systems. Please note that the substitutes are not suitable for flexible GI endoscopes.
- For Glutaraldehyde: Ortho-phthalaldehyde (OPA) in Cidex (contains only 0.55% glutaraldehyde)
- For common toxic chemicals such as chloroform: dimethoxyethane (DME), Ethyl lactate, methyl tert-butyl ether or methylene chloride; benzene can be replaced by benzotrifluoride (BTF), dimethoxyethane (DME); acetone can be substituted by ethyl lactate, or N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) etc.
- For toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde: dimethoxymethane (DEM); Phenol by polyethylene glycol (PEG), and pyridine by isopropyl alcohol.
- For flammable chemicals such as ethyl ether: methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), n-octyl tetrahydrofurfuryl ether (n-OTE)
- Waste anesthetic gases can be controlled by a scavenging system.
- For powerful pesticides containing pyrethroids: UV light traps; pheromone traps can be substituted for Cockroach pesticides etc.
Although heath care facilities will never be free of hazardous chemicals, it is increasingly possible to use safer alternatives and better procedures to prevent exposure.
MAXCOM’s GHS Training Library provides a basic overview of the hazards associated with every class of chemical a healthcare employee could typically be exposed to and how an exposure to these chemicals could affect him/her in the course of performing their everyday workplace duties. Additionally, this training provides valuable information about the degree of risks or hazard levels associated with chemicals specific to a healthcare environment, and finally employees are provided details about the information contained within each section of the new Safety Data Sheet, GHS label elements and the pictograms recently adopted by OSHA.
Learn more about Maxcom training here.
Did you know that HealthStream has partnered with the American Heart Association to deliver their full suite of ECC courseware?
HealthStream launched the comprehensive portfolio of online courses from the American Heart Association (AHA), the universally trusted and recognized world leader in emergency cardiovascular care (ECC) resources, in June 2012.
Since then, the AHA has updated these courses, and their Acute Stroke Online now offers CE Credit for Physicians, Nurses, EMTs and Physician Assistants! Whether your employees are updating their professional skills or being introduced to emergency cardiovascular response training for the first time, HealthStream provides AHA courseware to help you effectively achieve your training objectives.
Many online courses from AHA use a blended learning approach. Students learn cognitive skills through web‐based, self‐paced modules then practice and test the skills they have learned with an American Heart Association Instructor or Heartsaver® Skills Evaluator.
Benefits for Hospitals and Learners:
- Improve patient outcomes, by advancing prevention efforts and education
- Save time by completing certifications faster than classroom-based courses, as well as eliminating the wait for scheduled class times
- Reduce costs by freeing up limited instructor and classroom resources, decreasing or eliminating textbook expenses, and eliminating replacement staff to cover class time
- Interactive, self-paced courses vetted by AHA scientists and educators
- Courses are regularly updated and improved, using the latest AHA Guidelines for ECC and CPR
Courses include:
Acute Stroke Online is a web-based, interactive course that provides training on the symptoms, diagnosis and management of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke and complications of stroke. Course content covers treatment from the field to the emergency department, as well as critical care and rehabilitation. Geared toward the experienced healthcare provider, this course is ideal for in-hospital, out-of-hospital and any healthcare provider who wants to improve his or her knowledge of stroke treatment. (1.5 CE Credits for Physicians, Physician Assistants, Nurses & EMS)
Stroke Prehospital Care Online is an online course that teaches emergency medical professionals about stroke, including: pathophysiology, risk factors, differential diagnosis, recognition, assessment, and management. This course is ideal for out-of-hospital EMS providers. (1.25 Credit Hours for EMS)
Heartsaver® First Aid Online Part 1 is a self-directed course that uses interactive lessons and videos to teach comprehensive first aid knowledge including first aid basics, medical emergencies, injury emergencies and environmental emergencies. This program is for anyone with limited or no medical training interested in learning basic first aid.
Heartsaver First Aid Online is a self-directed course that uses interactive lessons and videos to teach you comprehensive first aid knowledge. This program is for anyone with limited or no medical training who needs an AHA course completion card. You will learn:
- First aid basics
- Medical emergencies
- Injury emergencies
- Environmental emergencies
Heartsaver® CPR AED Online Part 1 is an online, self‐directed program that teaches learners critical skills and knowledge needed to respond to and manage a sudden cardiac arrest or choking emergency in the first few minutes until emergency medical services (EMS) takes over. This course provides an AHA course completion card upon completion of all three parts.
Heartsaver® First Aid CPR AED Online Part 1 is an online, self‐directed program. The program teaches comprehensive first aid skills and critical skills and knowledge needed to respond to and manage a sudden cardiac arrest emergency in the first few minutes until emergency medical services (EMS) takes over. This course provides an AHA course completion card upon completion of all three parts and is ideal for anyone interested in learning these skills.
Heartsaver® Bloodborne Pathogens Online is a self‐directed course designed to meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements for bloodborne pathogens training when paired with site‐specific instruction.
BLS for Healthcare Providers Online Part 1 provides a flexible alternative to classroom training. Through case‐based scenarios, interactive activities and videos, this course teaches the concepts of both single‐rescuer and team basic life support. This course is for healthcare professionals who need to know how to perform CPR, as well as other lifesaving skills, in a wide variety of in‐hospital and out‐of‐hospital settings. This course provides an AHA BLS Provider Card upon completion of all three parts.
Structured and Supported Debriefing is an online tool designed to teach AHA Instructors how to facilitate an effective debriefing of their learners to enhance the learning and retention of their participants. This course is for any instructor who leads simulation or conducts debriefing sessions, including those following megacodes, Advanced Cardiac Life Support scenarios, and Pediatric Advanced Life Support skills sessions and scenarios.
Learn more here.
By Lee Ann Bryant, Associate Product Manager, HealthStream
With so much uncertainty and overwhelming change associated with a transition to ICD-10, how could we ignore the potential risks involved?
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) offers some helpful steps that facilities can use to properly prepare and hopefully mitigate the risks involved with such an important, yet daunting, conversion. Hospitals and other healthcare organizations are advised to:
- Establish a transition plan. Outline the steps your practice intends to follow to comply with ICD-10 requirements. Establish milestones to keep your practice on track. Share your transition plan with your EHR and practice management system vendors and billing services. Talk to them about how you can set up testing before the deadline.
- Communicate with your vendors regularly; encourage them to take action now to avoid reimbursement delays. Talk to your vendors about making sure your practice management systems will be able to handle ICD-10 transactions. Ask them about their schedule for training your practice's staff on the system changes. Make sure you and your vendors allow ample time for testing ICD-10 systems.
- Identify everywhere that your practice uses ICD-9. Any function where you currently use ICD-9 will be affected by the transition to ICD-10. By taking a look at where you use ICD-9, you will see where you need to be prepared to use ICD-10 codes.
- Plan for staff training. Decide who needs training, what type of training they need, and when they need it. Anyone who will test ICD-10 systems before the transition will need training in advance so they can perform meaningful testing. Others who use ICD codes can be trained 6 to 9 months before the October 1, 2014, transition.
- Network with peers. Talking with your peers in other practices can help you to identify best practices and opportunities for sharing resources.
- Set up an emergency fund to cover potential cash-flow disruptions from claims processing. If you think you might have a serious disruption in getting claims processed after the transition, having a cash reserve on hand could be helpful.
- Process ICD-9 transactions before the deadline. Get claims with ICD-9 transactions processed before the deadline to avoid facing a major backlog after the October 1, 2014, ICD-10 transition.
Click here to see how HealthStream and Precyse can help you mitigate these risks by having you and your staff ready to succeed from day 1.
By Lance Baily, founder and editor,
www.healthysimulation.com
(Reposted with permission.)
SimVentures is a joint collaborative of HealthStream & Laerdal Medical. Its SimManager platform was on display at IMSH 2013 at the SimCenter booth, right across from the Laerdal area. SimManager is an individual component of SimCenter, which also includes SimStore, SimDeveloper, and SimView. To better understand the relationship between these SimCenter components and the specific tools of SimManager I recorded an interview with Simulation Solutions Manager Lydon Small.
Watch the comprehensive video below to learn more about SimManager as well as to understand why such management systems can dramatically increase efficiency and reporting for your medical simulation program:
What I Learned about SimManager
SimManager is a cloud-based software service that requires an ongoing subscription fee automatically updated since there are no onsite hardware needs. SimManager is the back-end scheduling, reporting and content management system for operating the day-to-day needs of a healthcare simulation lab. SimManager schedules lab video recordings through SimView and holds purchased scenarios through SimStore.
SimManager can help you schedule an event using existing templates and modify those needs depending on the specific lesson plans for that day. Users can be given different administrative control capabilities, which means you can choose who can edit the calendar and how can view it, or request space. Having one person approve requests or create the calendar will certainly increase your program efficiency overtime and reduce scheduling headaches. Note that additional SimView systems that are utilized to capture simulation events are a hardware/software solution which currently provide log files back to SimManager (with plans to connect video in the future). In this sense, these different SimCenter components offer modular solutions that can be specific to the needs of your current or future simulation program.
SimManager also allows you to create exportable reports of room utilization that hold specific pieces of equipment in-order to better demonstrate ROI. Furthermore, SimManager allows for learner tracking to better identify changes in performance. This kind of tracking is crucial to demonstrate to higher levels of administration how staff, equipment and supplies are being utilized by the program.
Of course, purchased SimStore scenarios, handlers, trends and other multimedia components can be connected and controlled through SimManager, letting you allocate which licenses are utilized by which pieces of equipment.
HealthStream SimManager Features:
- Ability to manage simulation rooms, equipment, instructors, and simulation technicians.
- Can track, manage, and report
- Schedule and assign simulation learning activities
- Manage simulation content
- Integrates simulation scenarios into learning curricula
- Can customize role management to create varying access levels for administrators
- Configure and schedule reports for simulator utilization and activity
- Upload and store simulator debriefing files
- Capture simulation activity on learner transcripts
- Integrates with Laerdal simulators
- Integrates with SimCenter product suite, including SimStore, SimDeveloper, and SimView
Click here to learn more about SimManager.
Watch Our Video and Learn How to Enter Our Customer Drawing!
HealthStream is proud to announce today that we have implemented over three million subscribers to our learning management, SaaS-based application, the HealthStream Learning Center™ (HLC). The milestone was reached on February 4, 2013 as San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare and their approximately 15,000 employees were implemented on HealthStream’s platform to use the HLC.
Our three million implemented subscribers have been provided access to the HLC and its solutions through the healthcare organizations where they are employed, who typically contract with HealthStream in multi-year agreements for subscriptions, enterprise-wide. Approximately 3,000 healthcare organizations—primarily acute-care hospitals—are contracted with HealthStream to provide our solutions in their organizations, making the HLC the most adopted Internet-based learning management application in the healthcare industry.
Through HealthStream’s learning and talent management solutions, healthcare organizations are creating safer environments for patients and increasing the clinical competencies of their workforces. HealthStream offers solutions for some of the most urgent issues facing healthcare organizations today, including the need to improve patient safety, fulfill government compliance requirements, facilitate workforce onboarding processes, effectively train employees on the new ICD-10 coding system, and improve clinical skills—like those that improve resuscitation rates.
HealthStream offers a healthcare-specific range of innovative SaaS-based solutions to meet the unique workforce development needs of healthcare organizations through its emerging eco-system. Approximately 130 industry-leading partners and their content, our robust platform with a diverse array of healthcare-specific workforce development and talent management applications, and the collective data emanating from three million subscribers comprise HealthStream’s eco-system—an innovative approach that, we believe, is unmatched in the industry in its ability to meet these business and clinical needs.
"We are grateful to our customers for helping us to reach the milestone of three million implemented subscribers," said Robert A. Frist, Jr., chief executive officer, HealthStream. "Our vision has always been to improve the quality of healthcare by assessing and developing the people who deliver care—and it is an honor to do that for the dedicated healthcare professionals who use our solutions to improve patient care."
See the Video Here.
By Lee Ann Bryant, Associate Product Manager, HealthStream
Although nearly all healthcare providers are aware of the October 1, 2014 deadline, studies show that most are unprepared for this transition. Recognizing that these changes require widespread education and planning initiatives beyond just the coding population, CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) provides a timeline for preparation between now and the “go-live” date of October 1, 2014.
Transition and Testing (March 2013 to September 2014 )
- March 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013: Conduct high-level training on ICD-10 for clinicians and coders to prepare for testing…e.g., clinical documentation, software updates (ongoing)
- April 1, 2013: Start testing ICD-10 codes and systems with your practice’s coding, billing, and clinical staff (9 months)
- Use ICD-10 codes for diagnoses your practice sees most often
- Test data and reports for accuracy
- Monitor vendor an
d payer preparedness, identify and address gaps (ongoing)
- October 1, 2013: Begin testing claims and other transactions using ICD-10 codes with business trading partners such as payers, clearinghouses, and billing services (10 months minimum)
- January 1, 2014 – April 1, 2014: Review coder and clinician preparation; begin detailed ICD-10 coding training (6-9 months)
- Work with vendors to complete transition to production-ready ICD-10 systems
Complete Transition/Full Compliance (October 1, 2014)
- Complete ICD-10 transition for full compliance
- ICD-9 codes continue to be used for services provided before October 1, 2014
- ICD-10 codes required for services provided on or after October 1, 2014
- Monitor systems and correct errors if needed
While this timeline is a good high-level guide for what your organization should be focusing on now, it does not provide guidance on the day-to-day task of educating all necessary staff for this transition. With more than 50 affected populations in a healthcare facility, the ICD-10 transition is a great one and shouldn’t be taken lightly. ICD-10 is coming – are you ready?
For more information on how to get your organization and staff on track and ready to succeed from day one, click here!
(This white paper is posted on behalf of our parter, Baptist Leadership Group.)
In this churning and evolving healthcare environment, leaders are more challenged than ever before. We’re now responsible for more lives than ever at a time when the healthcare industry faces soaring costs, falling reimbursement rates, rigorous standards of quality, workforce shortages and more informed patients. While some kind of reform will be introduced, the “must” for care providers will continue to be to execute efficiencies that control cost while delivering patient-centered excellence. No matter how “reform” is presented to the healthcare industry in its final composition, as leaders we are still responsible for a successful delivery of care.
Our work is tough, but most of us are motivated because we have the privilege of helping people when they are at their most vulnerable, perhaps when they have even given up hope. Each patient experience is directly affected by the collective work that we do to deliver care.
A recent poll of healthcare leaders across the country revealed that the top two barriers to becoming a high performing leader are challenges with communication and accountability. These leaders want to focus on the skills needed to effectively develop themselves, and their employees, to have more meaningful, outcomes-based dialogue with senior executives. And why shouldn’t they?
Understanding organizational goals and translating them into meaningful targets for departments and staff is a significant, yet imperative, undertaking for leaders. When staff goals are aligned and measurable results are linked to improved patient outcomes, there is a quantifiable contribution to the patientcentered experience. Leaders have then enhanced their ability to take a seat at the decision-making table with senior leaders since their input directly contributes to safety, quality, cost-savings and the overall core business of the organization.
There are four key steps to becoming a high-performing leader.
• Make the connection
• Know “the whats”
• Enforce “the hows”
• Become indispensable
Learn more by filling out this form to download the white paper:
By Tom Noser, Senior Director of Product Management, HealthStream
Authoring courses can be a lonely, dreary business. But it doesn’t have to be. Ever wanted to be able to work on a course with subject matter experts and other authors across departments? Or even across your enterprise without having to send big flies through email or set up complex sharing sites? Now you can.
HealthStream has just launched a new authoring product that’s a whole new way to work on creating online courseware. Instead of working behind a honking program locked to one computer, now you can access powerful authoring software from any computer with an Internet connection. We call the product Team Author.
Team Author—A New Way to Author Courses Collaboratively
Team Author is a fully SCORM-compliant tool that allows groups of authors to work together in shared spaces online. Team Author has templates that make creating complex branching and interactions easy. Start with an imported PowerPoint and use Team Author’s many page templates to add quizzes, interactions, videos and audio to your course.
While you’re authoring with peers and colleagues, remember to never make your courses dull. Many savvy authors have been using top-notch healthcare images and content from the A.D.A.M Resource Library for years. In October, A.D.A.M. is completely new with a brand new product created just for HealthStream customers, the A.D.A.M. Resource Collection.
The New A.D.A.M. Resource Collection—Expanded Resources to Enliven Your Authored Courses
By mid-October, all current A.D.A.M. Resource Library customers will be automatically upgraded to the new and improved A.D.A.M. Resource Collection. You will access the A.D.A.M. Resource Collection directly from the HealthStream Learning Center (HLC).
Here is a comparison of features between the current A.D.A.M. Resource Library and the new A.D.A.M. Resource Collection.
The A.D.A.M. Resource Collection content is created by professional medical illustrators then reviewed by physicians and/or anatomical PhDs for medical accuracy. The URAC-accredited A.D.A.M. Resource Collection is the perfect solution for creating your own professional quality courses without requiring expensive professional authoring services. We are just one short month away from bringing you this exciting new collection!
So, keep your authoring social with Team Author and your courses cool by using resources from the new ADAM Resource Collection. We can’t wait to see what you create.
Learn More about Team Author.
Learn More about the A.D.A.M. Resource Collection.
Learn More about the HealthStream Learning Center.
By Christopher Cowan, MBA, Product Manager, Talent Management, HealthStream
Over 800 Healthcare Human Resource professionals convened in Denver Colorado this weekend for the 48th Annual ASHHRA Conference & Exposition. The conference theme, Leading People Through Change, was supported with over 55 learning sessions and multiple networking events providing opportunities for attendees to share Healthcare HR best practices. HealthStream was a Bronze sponsor of ASHHRA in 2011 and showed our continued support and commitment to Healthcare HR professionals with a Silver sponsorship in 2012. This year was an exciting conference for HealthStream, which gave our company an opportunity to showcase our unique approach to Healthcare Talent Management.
There was a lot of excitement generated this year at the HealthStream booth as ASHHRA members were introduced to the comprehensive solutions we offer to improve both clinical and business outcomes. Our presence in over 50% of US hospitals with the #1 LMS and more than 6,000 online courses from 140 partners has positioned HealthStream as a leader in healthcare workforce development. However, this conference has enhanced the awareness of the additional tools available on our HealthStream platform to manage the talent of both clinical and non-clinical staff including:
- Online Performance Reviews
- Competency Assessments
- Professional Portfolio
- Simulation Education
- CAHPS-Aligned Surveys
Our customers understand that healthcare is not an industry vertical for HealthStream, it is the focus of our product innovation, and driven by our vision, "To improve the quality of healthcare by developing the people that deliver care." This industry-specific focus will continue to produce valuable solutions for this audience to effectively manage the talent of their healthcare workforce.
By Trish O'Neill RN, MS; Executive Director, Clinical Learning Solutions & Senior Product Manager, HealthStream
For those of you who want to read a personal story about why hospitals are all focusing on Stopping Sepsis and Surviving Sepsis--the link below is about a 12-year old boy who died a few months ago of sepsis because the signs of early sepsis weren’t recognized by the healthcare providers. Not many things can take out a healthy 12 year old boy in 4 days – but sepsis can. The last paragraphs of the article can really break your heart.
This could happen anywhere, to any of us, and that‘s why hospitals are working so hard to train staff to recognize the subtle signs before it’s too late to treat.
From The New York Times:
ABOUT NEW YORK: An Infection, Unnoticed, Turns Unstoppable
Rory Staunton, 12, went to the emergency room with a sick stomach and fever one day in March; he was sent home, and three days later, he died of septic shock.
http://nyti.ms/MiX1c6
Begin Fighting Sepsis with Online Learning
At HealthStream we are doing our part to educate healthcare professionals about the the importance of recognizing the early signs of sepsis and taking the appropriate action. We have a cadre of online sepsis courses and sepsis training available. They include:
SimSuite Sepsis Course (online)
The Sepsis Course focuses on the early identification and treatment of patients with sepsis and includes the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) Resuscitation Bundle and the SSC Management Bundle. The course includes a pre-test and a post-test, two case studies and practice questions. This course prepares participants for completion of the SimSuite Sepsis Simulation Workshop. This course is authored by Barbara A. McLean, MN, RN, CCRN, CCNS, and is based on the Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines. Participants have access to the course content for review for one year following completion of the post-course test. 3.0 CE.
Audience: All healthcare providers associated with the care of individuals who present or develop sepsis and those preparing to complete the Sepsis Simulation Workshop
SimSuite Sepsis Comprehensive Course (online)
The Sepsis Comprehensive Course focuses on the early identification and treatment of patients with sepsis, with a focus on tissue oxygenation, and the SSC Resuscitation and SSC Management Bundles. This sepsis training course also features supplemental content on the pathophysiology of the evolution of sepsis from SIRS to septic shock and the rationale behind sepsis treatment and monitoring recommendations. The course includes a pre-test and a post-test, one comprehensive case study, four shorter case studies and practice questions throughout. This course prepares participants for completion of the SimSuite Sepsis Simulation Workshop. This course is authored by Barbara A. McLean, MN, RN, CCRN, CCNS, and is based on the Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines. Participants have access to the course content for review for one year following completion of the post-course test. 5.0 CE.
Audience: Physicians and critical care unit nurses, and those interested in an in-depth course on Sepsis. This course also prepares providers to complete the Sepsis Simulation Workshop.
SimSuite Sepsis Library (online)
The Sepsis Library is one of three SimSuite Sepsis online course options designed to educate participants on the evidence-based guidelines surrounding the care of patients who develop sepsis. This course series features seven modules, in two series. Each sepsis training module provides an in-depth focus on different areas of identification and treatment of sepsis.
The sepsis training modules may be completed individually, or in combination over a period of time, to meet specific healthcare organization learning objectives.
- The modules may be used for remediation, or as a refresher, for participants that have previously completed the Sepsis or Sepsis Comprehensive courses or need reinforcement in a particular area of Sepsis identification or treatment.
- Participants have access to the module content for review for one year following completion of the post-module test.
- The modules are not intended to be completed within a short period of time in preparation for completion of the SimSuite Sepsis Simulation Workshop.
- Each module includes a pre-test and a post-test, and a case study.
- The SimSuite Sepsis Library is authored by Barbara A. McLean, MN, RN, CCRN, CCNS, and is based on the Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines.
