Online Training For The Healthcare Sector: What eLearning Professionals Should Know
While all professionals should be well-informed, regardless of their industry or niche, it is especially important for members of the healthcare sector to be fully qualified and properly trained. After all, they tend to patients whose lives may very well hang in the balance on a daily basis, and being knowledgeable and skilled can make a world of difference when it comes to the care they provide. For this very reason, online training is steadily on the rise in the medical field. Here are just a few of the benefits of switching to online training for healthcare professionals and organizations.
4 Benefits Of Online Training For The Healthcare Sector
- Cost reduction.
Online training can significantly reduce L&D costs within healthcare organizations, primarily thanks to the fact that there are no on-site instructors or printed material fees. Rather than paying for an instructor to go from location to location to teach healthcare workers, each employee can simply access the online training program and participate in online training activities, virtual presentations, and even live events. - Decreased training time.
Time is money, and spending valuable time training employees via face-to-face instruction can be a costly endeavor. Fortunately, online training can drastically cut training seat time by condensing learning materials and make the most of every eLearning minute. For example, rather than sitting through a half-an-hour presentation, employees can simply engage in an online scenario that teaches them the same skills and knowledge. - Easy to update and expand.
The healthcare sector is constantly changing, as new procedures are discovered, new prescriptions and treatments are introduced, and compliance procedures expand and evolve. With the help of eLearning, healthcare organizations can update their training materials quickly and cost-effectively, giving their patients the best possible treatment and their employees all of the online tools they need to do so. - Rapid employee orientation.
A significant percentage of the training budget is typically dedicated to new employee onboarding. However, online training can make new employee orientation quicker and less costly. They can also access online training materials on-the-job via their tablets or mobile devices, especially if the learning management system is cloud-based, so that they are able to learn about company policies and updated procedures immediately.
Online Training For The Healthcare Sector: 5 Tips For eLearning Professionals
- Make it visual.
Employees simply aren’t going to get excited about the online training process if they have to sift through an abundance of text to get the information they need. This is why it’s essential to make your online training course as visual as possible, such as including images, graphics, and multimedia presentations that are compelling and attention-grabbing. Healthcare workers often have to work with complicated equipment or carry out complex procedures, and including visuals can help them to better comprehend the subject matter. - Know your corporate learners.
Conducting surveys, focus groups, interviews, and online assessments is an absolute must if you want to develop an effective online training strategy. You must know what your healthcare corporate learners need to take away from the eLearning experience, what skills they need to acquire, and what they expect from the online training course. Their prior knowledge and personal experience levels are also essential, as it gives you an indication of how you can fill the performance gap. - Improve skill and task mastery with online scenarios.
Online scenarios and simulations are invaluable teaching tools, particularly in the healthcare sector, as they give corporate learners the chance to master skills and tasks without the real world risks. For example, completing an online scenario that teaches them how to use a new piece of equipment can ensure that they can properly utilize the equipment, without putting the patients at risk or compromising the diagnostic data. Try to make the online scenario or simulation as realistic as possible to improve immersion and interactivity. - Create an easy-to localize online training course.
Chances are that your online training course is going to be seen in a variety of different locations, especially if you are creating an online training program for a global healthcare company. Thus, you need to make certain that your online training course is easy to be localized from the very beginning, so that you can avoid costly updates and modifications later on. Subtitle your online training course so that it’s accessible for the hearing impaired, and so that you can translate it when it’s time to take it to international audiences. Also, avoid using images that are culture-specific, such as those featuring currency or signs with lettering. - Keep them up-to-date with webinars.
Webinars are virtual training events that are typically live, but can be recorded for later viewing. They can cover a wide range of topics and give healthcare employees the chance to interact with their online instructors and peers remotely. If they have a question, they can simply ask it during the webinar and get an answer within a matter of minutes, or share their opinions and insights. Just make sure to schedule your webinars for dates and times that are most convenient for your online learners, and keep in mind that healthcare employees, especially those who work in hospitals, often have irregular schedules.
As is the case with all eLearning endeavors, a healthcare online training strategy is only effective if you know your audience, can clearly state your goals, and know which materials can best convey the information. So, use these tips to reap all the benefits of an online training program in your healthcare organization.
Also interested in learning more about how to design online training courses for other sectors? Read the article 7 Benefits Of eLearning For Charities: What eLearning Professionals Should Know to discover the benefits of eLearning for charitable organizations.