Training and Courseware Development

Hill-Rom

Challenge

Hill-Rom planned to launch its NaviCare Nurse Call system (NNC), a state-of-the-art, intranet-based call system for hospitals and other patient-care centers. NNC was a complete redesign of the existing Nurse Call (NC) system, which ran through telephone lines and had been in place for more than 13 years. Nurses are required to perform many different tasks during their shifts, so making a significant change to their systems required quick, well-planned training.

Hill-Rom installers also needed to be trained. Hardware, the way the system works, and the installation process had completely changed. Installers needed quick and effective training and information to successfully install the new NNC system.

Hill-Rom’s challenge was to provide rapid, easy-to-use training and materials prior to the launch of a much more robust system without adding to the burden of busy nurses and installers.

Solution

Hill-Rom called on the information and instructional designers at Contiem to help. Capitalizing on a single-source DITA information center it had previously created for Hill-Rom, Contiem designed and created training materials for both installers and end-users.

Working under a tight timeline, Contiem quickly evaluated which items in the information center needed to be updated based on the new system and which could be reused to streamline the training development process. Contiem understood it was important to capitalize on the information center to ensure the most up-to-date information was fed into the training materials as the beta version of the new system was being tested and adjustments were made.

Contiem created two sets of training materials for nurses using the NNC:

• Quick Reference Guide. This single-page guide provided a concise overview of the system, including options, steps for using it, etc. Nurses keep these guides by the systems or in their pockets.
• Clinical Training Manual. A Hill-Rom clinician used this manual to train nurses at their locations. The trainer efficiently stepped the nurses through the process, pointed out key information they would often reference, and helped nurses fully utilize the feature-rich system. The manual also served as a post-training reference.

In addition, Contiem developed a one-week, hands-on classroom installer training program that allowed a group of experienced installers to understand the intricacies of a new and complex system that was completely different from the original NC system. Participants could experience an installation and ask questions prior to going out to the field.

Result

Hill-Rom successfully implemented a nurse and installer training program prior to launch. An effective nurses training program made it simpler to learn and fully utilize the more robust system, which made it easier on the nurses and did not add to their workloads. Nurses especially appreciated the quick reference guides, which they found helpful for their day-to-day needs.

Installers were fully prepared, which lead to faster and lower-cost installations. Training development was streamlined through effective content reuse with minimal support from Hill-Rom.