USING A PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT TEAM TO REINVENT A MANDATORY EDUCATION-PROGRAM

Background: To improve employee attendance at Annual Review Day, the d ay when all mandatory hospitalwide education requirements are presente d, The Finley Hospital (Dubuque, Iowa) initiated a performance. improv ement team in March 1993. Data collected previous to 1993 indicated th at the compliance goal of 90% was being met only with difficulty. Perf ormance improvement team: Data indicated three main areas where improv ements could be made-communication, enforcement, and curriculum. Recom mendations oi task forces;:with team members as leaders, were implemen ted. Decisions were made to change Annual Review Day to a full-day for mal to include all mandatory education, make outcomes competency based , and maintain cost-effectiveness. Trial run and evaluation: The one-y ear trial run began in 1994 with gradual changes in the program from a lecture and video format to an interactive game format. For example, at one point a crossword puzzle with information on infection control and bloodborne pathogens was added. The Jeopardy Game format, used to teach the principles of emergency preparedness, was added in June 1994 . Full implementation of the curriculum, communication, and enforcemen t recommendations have resulted in 100% compliance. Maintaining the ga in: The performance improvement team has continued to monitor results and submit quarterly reports to the quality management department. All participants must complete and pass a competency-based test on the in formation covered; all 760 participants have passed. The curriculum ta sk force continues to meet on a yearly basis to evaluate the ever-evol ving format, analyze attendee evaluations, and consider annual changes to the format.