Continuing education should do more than fulfill annual inservice requirements. It should meet the learning needs of your CNAs and, in turn, have a measurable impact on client care. That's what you get when you utilize high quality inservice materials that have been created especially for nursing assistants by a reputable inservice provider. Consider these examples:



Renee was concerned about the large number of falls among the residents at her skilled nursing facility. "We purchased an inservice for our CNAs called 'Understanding Fall Risk Factors' to educate them on this issue," she said. "In the past month, our falls have been cut in half!"

Using quality inservice materials saved one of Temika's home health clients. "After presenting an inservice we purchased called 'Understanding Diabetes' to our home health aides, one aide recognized the signs of hypoglycemia and impending insulin shock in her client," Temika reported. "The aide called EMS and literally saved the client's life because of the information she learned from the inservice."

At her assisted living facility, Beth kept noticing poor documentation skills among her CNAs."Some of them were even using 'White Out'!" said Beth. "We purchased an inservice on 'Reporting & Documenting Client Care', and made it a requirement for every nursing assistant. Their documentation has improved significantly!"

In each of the above examples, the nursing supervisor had struggled with her problem issue for a while before purchasing a CNA inservice from an inservice provider. Could they have created their own inservice materials? Of course. But at what cost?

Let's take a look at Charlotte, a busy nursing supervisor. On top of all her other work, she needs to find a way to reduce the number of urinary tract infections among her home health patients. She thinks about this for an hour on Monday and decides to create an inservice on UTIs to present to her nurse aides on Friday.

On Tuesday, Charlotte begins to do research for the inservice. She spends two hectic hours on this, and while she knows it's not enough, she can't spare any more time. On Wednesday, Charlotte tries to write an interesting presentation-which is difficult between constant interruptions. This process takes her four hours. She tells herself that it will "just have to do". Now, Charlotte needs a couple of handouts. That adds another hour to the project.

On Thursday, with time running out, Charlotte remembers that she needs a quiz. And what about learning objectives? She spends another rushed hour on these finishing touches. Charlotte pats herself on the back for saving money by creating her own inservice and crosses her fingers that the inservice will make a difference.

But, did Charlotte really do her home health agency a favor? In total, Charlotte spent nine hours developing her inservice. Since she earns $25 an hour, Charlotte just cost her agency $225.00 for a "rush job" on an inservice that may not help reduce urinary tract infections. If Charlotte had spent just a few minutes surfing the internet, she would have discovered that for less than $50, she could purchase a high quality "ready made" CNA inservice. Instead of presenting a few slapped-together handouts, Charlotte could have provided her aides with a polished, in-depth look at how to prevent urinary tract infections. Which inservice is more likely to get measurable results?

In today's healthcare climate, nursing supervisors are too busy to do it all. The next time you need inservice materials for your CNAs, be sure to explore all your options. Purchasing materials from a well-regarded inservice provider may be your best solution.