I hope there are some of you out there!!! i am the director for org. learning at my hosptial (first time in the hospital environment) long time trainer in the non profit sector. this is a community based hosp. in NYC - no endowment or huge money making specialty.

my particular challange is to annually train over 3000 staff (no clincial ed stuff thank the heavens) with no real sophisticated technological support (read no LMS and no hopes of investing in one), little to no budget, and its especially tight now due to national ecomnomic crisis and its impact on healthcare institutions and a staff of one trainer including myself. get the picture?! its tough! so I'm sending out feelers to hospital based educators to venting but also for support and ideas, on how best to organize and stategize for addressing the various needs in such an environment.

how do you contend with JCHAO training mandates, have you found any particularly good approach for regular sexual harassment trainings content and implementation, what metrics are you using, what are expected impacts for your trainings, what are some examples of your regularly offered trainings and how to you stategize and serve the 24/7 environment...
thanks for the support!

Sounds pretty desperate and hate to see no replies, but I'm not in a role like you so no idea how valid these may be...

Is it a motivated culture or, when you say "take this training on your off hours" will you face an angry mob? I'd imagine off-hour training has to be expected since I'd think they're not going to be unavailable for a mandatory course when their on-shift at a hospital!? Not like a factory where you just shut down production...

What technology support do you have? Can you create CDs or local 'intranet' based courses for employees to view in the 'break room'?

CDs are cheap. Can you mass produce CDs, or 'burn on demand', hold an 'overview' class then hand out a 3 (?) pamphlet and a CD for the employees to review at home or in the lounge?

Can you get access to the hospital website (?) and put up some general training there for employees to access from home?

Otherwise, traditional classrooms. With one other trainer, sounds like you'll have to alternate the night shifts!

Perhaps worth finding an external consultant to help or who can host material for you? I know you said 'no budget' so this may just not be an option. This is one hospital-oriented company that seems to have some online technology, but no idea how helpful they'd be:
http://www.asdhro.com

At the most basic, and to meet regulatory requirements, just have a meeting, hand out a packet, and tell employees to read it and fill-out the form on the back and sign to indicate they read and understand. Lame and not always effective...but can be a CYA move at least.
CM

thanks CapeMedia for your reply - some of your suggestions I have begun to strategize for implementation. I wish I could say they are a motivated bunch - but i think they are an overegulated group with competing mandatory requirements and the push back hits training first as they must repsond to patient care standards first. some are interested but most have to be pulled kicking and screaming...I've actualy been thinking about purchasing a MAC for my personal use and making some videos, perhaps short comics (printed, some fun stuff etc to distribute - getting stuff on our intranet can be tough but possible...I'll check out the website you cited...we have a lot of the "read and signs" - personally they are an affront to my senses as an educator but in some cases i really have no choice - for me the pay off is not the number completed but the resulting change for learners - but i suppose i'll have to get over that in this environment....

I think you'll find that hospitals are not the only organizations that fit the description. There are many large organizations (banks, insurance companies, chemical companies, etc.) that have compliance requirements, no sophisticaed tech support, little to no budget, etc... Perhaps if you opened the frame a bit you'd get more responses? I think you'll find applicable information even without the healthcare/hospital part of it. Almost all of us have dealt with the sexual harrassment training issue, for example.

In addition, you might check the membership directory for your local ASTD chapter. There will probably be folks who have similar hospital type jobs. (I know in the Seattle area, there are several top notch training directors in the various hospitals.) Those local ASTD members could probably give you the best advice.