Meet Joint Commission Standards with an Effective Continuing Education Plan
It has been over one year since The Joint Commission introduced two new perinatal safety standards to address complications in the areas of maternal hemorrhage and hypertension – two of the most common contributors to pregnancy-related deaths in the United States.
However, due to another busy and tumultuous year in healthcare, hospitals may still be facing challenges in their efforts to demonstrate compliance with the new policies.
Medical Interactive Community is continuing to have conversations with healthcare professionals across the country about the new perinatal standards and what can be done to reduce maternal mortality rates and improve overall patient safety outcomes.
A good place to begin is with continuing education that directly helps clinicians, administrators, and risk managers prepare for accreditation standards and reduce maternal risk in the most efficient way. However, with so many CE providers to choose from, how can your organization choose the most effective option? Here are some key things to look for when creating a continuing education plan.
Evidence-Based Educational Resources
Providing perinatal teams with education that was researched, designed, and written by OB professionals and risk managers is the most effective way to increase patient safety knowledge and implement specific strategies to improve outcomes in high-risk areas of healthcare. Truly effective education includes evidence-based resources, impactful case studies, professional guidelines, and evaluation tools that help measure risk exposure.
Short, Concentrated Content
Often, when asking healthcare providers how they feel about their required continuing education, they will give one (or a combination) of the following responses:
- Courses are too long / take too much time
- They are forced to take courses on topics they already understand
- They do not want to sit in a classroom for extended time for live education
To maximize efficiency and make the best use of your staff’s time, continuing education should be short, concentrated, and focused on the specific areas of the clinician’s care. Individualized learning paths are a great way to ensure your staff spends more time on the floor providing quality care and less time distracted by unnecessary education.
Differentiate Between MD & RN
Physicians and nurses have unique roles and experiences in care settings and continuing education should reflect that. Courses need to be tailored to the needs and practices of each group, highlight their focuses, and provide patient care strategies specific to their area.
Empower Your Clinical Team
What steps has your organization taken to remain in compliance with the new perinatal safety standards? Putting in place a comprehensive continuing education/training plan for high-risk OB teams will not only help demonstrate compliance with the standards, but also help to reduce risk exposure and improve patient safety outcomes.
If you have questions about meeting The Joint Commission perinatal safety standards or would like to learn more about healthcare continuing education, the team at Medical Interactive is available to provide a consultation or support.
About Medical Interactive Community
Medical Interactive Community is a transformative training platform for Risk Management and Patient Safety education. Our powerful library of Perinatal resources includes continuing education courses, learning paths, guides, checklists, and management algorithms all designed to help enhance patient safety strategies and empower OB clinical staff to improve maternal outcomes.
The material presented in this blog represents the opinion of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of Synova Associates. Synova Associates does not endorse any specific products or organizations but strives to connect its industry partners with leaders interested in product/educational innovation.
