Aside from practical work, healthcare training can be mundane and unappealing in a classroom.
Now that we’re in 2020 we have the means to create engaging healthcare training to really appeal to our learners. Digital capacities have grown, allowing us to take learning away from the classroom, and to create learning experiences like never before.
Healthcare training is critical, as it can really affect another’s life. It’s important that training stimulates the brain and provides realistic challenges and experiences that will show learners how life will be on the job.
So how can you transform your healthcare training?
Modernise
It’s important to update the style and content of learning you are providing your learners with.
Firstly, style. You may have always delivered learning within a classroom, or healthcare setting. But with the range of technology we have now, and most people being capable of using it, it may be time to switch it up.
You can take on a blended learning approach, and mix the classroom with elements of online learning. Although a lot of healthcare is best learnt in a practical setting, there will be aspects that don’t need that.
By having certain modules that are digital, it will provide learners with a way of learning that they will be quite familiar with. Additionally, they will be able to do it in their own home, office or wherever they feel comfortable.
Digital learning can also make it easier to track each learner. Near-Life™ CREATOR provides intelligent reporting – this gives you detailed feedback on each individual performance. Many other elearning courses can provide you with similar. Analytics are important as they can highlight gaps in performance, or support decisions for further learning.
Lastly, the content of your learning must always be up to date, particularly in healthcare. If your content is out of date, your learners could be practicing incorrectly. This could lead to inaccurate decisions being made or even fatalities, in some cases.
Be flexible
Within healthcare, a lot of people are working long shifts, through the day or night. Your goal is to make learning more efficient, so being flexible for your learners is in your best interest.
One way to make training flexible is by offering learners the chance to learn at their own pace, with one deadline everything should be completed by. By doing this it can ease the pressure from your learners, and keep them motivated. Performance may improve as learning is on their watch.
Of course some learning may need to be completed at specific times such as classroom, practical or group learning. However, any digital learning can be offered with less control over learning schedules.
Being flexible can also mean giving your learners control. Understandably, there are compulsory modules that will need completing. However, giving learners other options can benefit both you, and them. You can do this by giving your group a handful of other modules or courses which they may be interested in, or can be beneficial to them in practice.
By doing this for your learners, they will feel a sense of control. This is again, something that can alleviate the pressure, and pave the way for more efficient learning.
Tell a story
Everyday we tell and listen to stories. It’s how we connect and engage with one another. Stories hold the power of allowing us to stand in the shoes of others. So why will storytelling work for your training?
By telling a story through learning scenarios, learners can experience realistic situations away from a practical setting. It’s all about taking your learners on a journey so that they understand the information better. Storytelling can be incorporated in many ways. You can use different types of media, interactivity, challenges, real experiences and emotions. Tools like Vyond are a great way for you to make powerful stories through online animations.
All of these methods of storytelling will really engage the learner. Particularly if you present them with interactive scenarios and challenges. This will test your learners knowledge and give them real practice. More importantly, it will provide them with more memorable learning, and hopefully more fun!
“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.”
Richard Branson
Storytelling is a great reason to switch up your learning and take on a more digital or blended learning approach.
Provide an experience
At Near-Life™ we provide learners with an experience, as we know it proves for better engagement and knowledge retention. How do we do it?
We use a gamified branching design to really involve learners, and to provide them with a memorable learning experience. We want learners to be able to use the skills and knowledge they’ve acquired in our courses, in the real world.
Our learning is video based, all filmed in real locations with real workers. Learners are presented with choices within each scenario and have a countdown, to make it realistic. The scenarios unfold depending on the choices they choose, helping learners to understand why the decision they made was right or wrong and why.
By doing this learners are experiencing all of the emotions, decisions, timings and other factors they would face in the real world. Learners build confidence, which is important in the world of healthcare. This should make it much easier to work and make decisions effectively when on the job.
It’s important in healthcare, that you’re able to make decisions under pressure. So, when you’re designing your learning course make sure you really provide learners with a real experience, take them on a journey and provide them with real challenges.
Experience is the best teacher, and we only get things right by failing and trying again.