Innovative Staff Education: At the Drive-in

Background: In today’s complex world of wound and skin care, it is critical that direct patient care professionals stay abreast of the latest evidence based best practices for patient care.  It is difficult for staff members to find the time to attend in-services and continuing education programs.  The CWONC’s at one large acute care facility created an innovative approach to address this issue entitled “At the Drive-In,” consisting of two mobile carts containing various wound and skin “movies”.

Purpose: The purpose of the Drive-In was to engage direct patient care professionals in the latest evidence based best practices related to wound and skin care.  The Drive-In occurred for 5 days with two mobile carts “driving up” to various departments during all three shifts inviting the staff to come to the “Drive-In”. 

Objectives: The Drive-In objectives included:  increasing professional staff knowledge and ability to implement best practices relating to 1) risk assessment/prevention of pressure injuries 2) incontinence care 3) nutrition for wound healing 4) device related pressure injuries 5) medical adhesive related skin injuries.  The objectives were met by viewing the different “movies” from the Drive-In such as “Jurassic Skin,” “On Golden Pond,” “What Lies Beneath,” and “Eat, Pray, Love”.

Outcomes: The Drive-In engaged on average 250 direct patient care professional staff members daily in learning the latest evidence based best practices for the selected wound and skin topics.   Participants comments included: “It was great that you came to us,” “Wow someone thought about the night shift,” and “I did not have to worry staying late after a shift or come in on a different day.”

Conclusion: By taking the Drive-In to the professional staff members and disseminating the information into small, easily viewed movies, the WOCN nurses removed common barriers for continuing education and improved staff satisfaction.