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Currently at the University of North Staffordshire Hospital we are currently working towards getting level 3 CNST. I am a technican working on our NICU and PICU departments and provide user training for staff on numerous pieces of medical equipment. At present we have a part time nurse trainer on both areas but due to staffing shortages and the lack of funding this time is greatly reduced and training is left to myself.
I would like to ask how other, similar units cope with the demand for training. I heard a long time ago that some hospitals had dedicated Nurse Technicans that provide user training, and carry out pre-use checks on equipment. Does anyone have any contact details, if these people do actually exist or can anyone provide me with some information as to how their hospital copes with these demands? Many thanks

Alan,
Here at Great Ormond Street Hospital, I am the Medical Devices Trainer, although part of the post is technician work in the department as it is needed.
For training, we hold monthly induction sessions for new staff and additional ITU induction sessions for new staff on NICU, PICU and CICU(cardiac). These cover, respectively, the main equipment on the general and ITU wards. There are also mandatory yearly update sessions that the training department is implementing soon and will include a "medical devices competency assessment session". The purpose of these sessions is to get all staff (not just the new ones) signed off on their device competencies to fulfill CNST and CHI requirements, and since my role is fairly new within the hospital this seems to be a simple way to do it. Hopefully, within a couple(or 10) odd years we'll see most of the staff!
However, within the ITU areas, there is one technician who is the ITU Support Technician and she and I do a lot of the training together.She is also on the ITU wards to provide any help they need.
From the nursing side, all areas have Nurse Practice Educators that we liase closely with- but they leave most of the medical device training up to us!
We find(especially because GOS has a large staff turnover rate) that because we see each nurse as they come into the hospital, our set training sessions seem fairly effective.
One other thing to note is that our PICU ward occasionally organises their own study days and will ask one of us to come and train on a new device or update on one already in use. But this doesn't happen very often.
I hope this helps you!

Alan,
We have a Medical Devices Trainer who has been in post for around a year. During this time we've developed a Medical Devices Training Policy, Competence Statements, Risk Classification of devices & various Training sessions.

The competence statement is designed to make it easier for people who already know equipment to declare competence & save us the trouble of training them (or it can point towards refreshing certain areas)

Risk classification helps with prioritising training (do all high risk devices first & then move on to others)

The policy means that everyone is obliged to conform.

Make use of any current trainers/practice development staff - work with them & ask for records of their training. All of the records of training are crucial for CNST, together with a Plan, & evidence that progress is being made.

Contact John Riddle on 0115 924 9924 x 42480 to discuss in more detail.

Regards, Mark

Alan,
Huw Evans, Our nurse trainer has been carrying out this function for around 18 months and is very good (in my opinion).

He is developing a nurse trainer forum where equipment trainers and nurses can gather / share information. see:
http://www.nursetrainer.com
He will be speaking at the BEST PRACTICE DAY next Tuesday at The Shropshire Education & Conference Centre,
Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

If you are going, I'm sure he would like to meet you.

Just a quick question - are all your "trainers" trained and certified as competent by the manufacturers / distributors ?

Roy,
Our Trainer has completed certified 'train the trainer' courses on the all equipment that he trains on. He has also completed a teaching certificate, but I would not consider this necessary (preferable maybe).

That's a very good point- it's not just enough to say that you know how to use a piece of equipment.
We get company trainiers to come in and go through all the devices with us. Afterwards they send you a certificate saying you have completed the training. I also base my competency assessments on the company-written-and-approved assessments.Some of these are RCN acredited(Alaris is, for example) and you can get RCN CEPs for them.
This way the training is all traceable back to the "manufacturer's instructions".

regards, Elie