Staff development: a catalyst for change.

Regardless of the amount of course work nurses have, clinical experience always can teach us something new. I had been a nursing educator in a university setting, when I decided to go back to graduate school for a doctorate in adult education. To help pay for my schooling, I found a part-time position as a staff development coordinator and consultant at a local nursing home, where I was to develop and implement a staff development program for the 120 employees at the facility. My background in in-service and staff development was limited, but I was excited about the possibility of applying the theories of adult learning and program planning that I was learning in class.

To help clarify the expectations I was to meet, I decided to do role analysis technique (RAT) with the administrator, director and assistant director of nursing, and other department heads. Each of the eight key people was asked to identify three responsibilities of the staff development coordinator. What emerged was then prioritized by the group, and I focused on helping others to do their jobs better-and with more personal satisfaction. I planned to use that information as a measure of my effectiveness a year later, when my contract ended.

I began an intensive reading program on staff development in general and staff development in longterm care in particular. 1,2,3,4,5. 1 kept a journal documenting my thoughts, experiences, failures, and successes. My focus, as decided, would be strengthening and supporting staff members in their roles- so that improved resident care would be the result.

My next step was to assess the needs of the nursing home personnel. I referred to Malcolm Knowles' work on need determination, need indicators, and the process of translating needs into objectives. I used a variety of methods to assess needs, such as interviewing, reading, and observing.

My sources of learning needs encompassed these broad areas: review of institutional goals and philosophy, and review of pertinent legal guidelines such as survey reports and regulations. I read job descriptions and observed nurses and aides at work. Reports of past in-service programs were reviewed along with the ANA guidelines for staff development. I observed patient-care planning conferences, interviewed specialists in geriatrics care, and talked with nursing home residents. Lastly, I reviewed incident and accident reports.

In addition, I spent time interviewing a sample of the staff members about their individual learning needs, asking the following questions: (1) What kinds of programs would best meet your education needs? (2) What kinds of things, if any, are keeping you from performing your job as well as you might like, and what do you suggest might be done about them? (3) What learning methods do you prefer? (4) What kind of orientation would help you most? (5) What would you consider to be your special area of expertise, and would you be willing to share your special talents with others? Interviews were conducted in private, and confidentiality was observed. The administrative support and ...