Alden hosts Nursing Skills Fair
Over 100 nurses and nurse aides from Alden Rehabilitation and Health Care Centers received comprehensive, hands-on training at Alden’s first Nursing Skills Fair designed to ensure competencies in both basic and advanced clinical nursing skills.
“This latest development in Alden’s ongoing support of professional nursing development provides considerably more ‘hands-on’ instruction than is typical in continuing education activities,” said Lauren Magnusson, RN, director of Clinical Services. “Our goal is to promote nursing excellence by making sure every nurse and nurse aide in our facilities has demonstrated basic and specialized competencies before they provide direct patient care.”
Alden’s Nursing Skills Fair will now be held monthly. The fair included a daylong session for Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses in which nurses received training and demonstrated proficiencies in respiratory care, wound management, IV therapies, medication administration and medical topics. Another daylong session for Certified Nurse Assistants covered topics such as transferring patients with lifts and gait belts, repositioning, applying splints, documentation and more.
“Showing up at an event like this isn’t just about demonstrating and brushing up on clinical skills,” said Ireen Evangelista, director of nursing at Alden Estates of Barrington Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Barrington. “It’s also a great chance to experience the latest, best practices in these areas.”
Instructors at the fair included Alden staff development coordinators, nurse consultants, pharmacy nurses and a respiratory therapist — all of whom have certifications in specific nursing disciplines. During the day, each instructor was in charge of a ‘station’ for a particular clinical skill. The nurses and nurse aides performed hands-on care at each station until they completed a skills checklist, received a certificate after they successfully demonstrated the skills and passed a written test.
“The feedback from our first Skills Fair was very positive,” said Magnusson. “I think this shows a team approach to quality assurance and developing nursing competencies.” With Skills Fairs planned monthly, Magnusson expects every Alden nursing employee will have the opportunity to attend a fair annually.
To learn more about Alden Health Care and Senior Living, visit thealdennetwork.com.
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