Where Learning Meets Lifesaving

By Jessica Wall

With a relentless dedication to quality and safety, McLeod Health continues to strive for excellence in the delivery of patient care. One of the ways this is accomplished is through the McLeod Health Clinical Education team.

Composed of clinical educators serving both the health system at large as well as each McLeod Health campus, this team oversees a variety of programs aimed at ensuring nurses and healthcare workers alike are trained and prepared to provide the high-quality care our patients expect and deserve.

The McLeod Health Clinical Education department encompasses four areas – the Nurse Residency Program, American Heart Association (AHA) Class Certifications, Nurse Orientation and Simulation.

Nurse Residency
To assist newly licensed nurses in the transition from nursing school to clinical practice, the McLeod Nurse Residency Program uses specific tools, experiences and classes to help nurses both grow and succeed.

Nurses with less than one year experience of caring for severe or urgent health conditions, known as acute care, are automatically enrolled upon hire for the Residency designed for their specialty unit. The program specialties offered include critical care, emergency department, medical/surgical, women’s services, neonatal intensive care, or pediatrics. These seminars are taught by experts in their fields.

Programs combine instructional teaching, case studies, hands-on skills and simulations in the Immersive Clinical Exploration (ICE) Lab.

In the two years since its inception, the Nurse Residency program has graduated more than 300 nurses.

AHA Classes
The McLeod Health Clinical Education team provides structured classes for American Heart Association (AHA) certifications for healthcare workers throughout the region.

Certifications currently offered include Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support with Obstetric Focus (ACLS OB), and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS).

Classes take place in the McLeod Health AHA Training Centers in Florence and Little River, and are open to all healthcare professionals. Approximately 3,500 certification cards are issued annually.

Nurse Orientation
Nurses joining the McLeod Health team participate in a two-day orientation, during which they learn about the culture – including the mission, vision and core values – of the hospital system.

Orientation provides education in a variety of formats, including interactive simulation and hands-on skills, to accommodate all learning styles.

“Nursing orientation sets the standard for safe, patient-centered care across the McLeod Health system,” says Julie Surles, Director of Clinical Education for McLeod Health.

Simulation
Healthcare simulation is the imitation of a real-world situation to create a safe learning environment for healthcare providers to practice and assess their skills. Simulation improves staff confidence and competence in providing safe, quality patient care through repetition, communication, critical thinking, prioritization and teamwork across multiple disciplines.

Simulations involve all healthcare providers, including, but not limited to: nurses, nursing students, medical staff, medical students, medical residents, respiratory therapists, medical technicians, physical therapists and high school students.

The Clinical Education team has six lifelike human models, referred to as “manikins,” located in both Florence and Little River, ranging from newborn to geriatric.

In addition to running simulation in the ICE Lab, the McLeod Health Clinical Education team offers a mobile simulation lab to bring education wherever participants provide care, thanks to generous donors of the McLeod Health Foundation.

The mobile simulation lab allows the Clinical Education team to provide ongoing immersive clinical experiences at McLeod facilities for employee training as well as career fairs and healthcare events.

To date, the mobile simulation lab has visited every McLeod Health campus and continues to partner with McLeod Workforce Development and Pee Dee Area Health Education Center (AHEC) to support local and regional training.

As McLeod Health continues to expand its footprint, the Clinical Education team remains committed to ensuring new and current healthcare staff are trained and prepared to deliver excellent patient care.