Ideas That Work: Hitting the Bullseye on Multimodal Learning

Practical pearls from your colleagues

ASCs are required by accreditors like AAAHC to educate staff and complete scenario-based simulations on “internal disaster” topics such as malignant hyperthermia (MH) — but that doesn’t mean the learning needs to be dull. “I am always looking for ways to intrigue our staff through adult learning theory,” says Tabitha Hoffman, MSN, RN, RNC-OB, NPD-BC, clinical education specialist at WellSpan Apple Hill Surgical Center in York, Pa. “Adult learners need the reason behind education and changes, and are driven by this for growth and development.”

For this year’s MH learning, Ms. Hoffman appealed to the competitive spirit of Apple Hill’s staff through a “multimodal learning” approach. As always, individual staff members independently completed a self-directed learning module on MH. New this year, however, was a fun “Family Feud”-style game Ms. Hoffman added to the mix.

Ms. Hoffman visited the huddles of each care area — OR, endoscopy, pre-op and PACU — three times to cover a total of 15 questions. The fun part? She brought four buzzer buttons with her, each of which made different sounds, and had staff go head-to-head in answering the questions. The buzzers were placed on a metal cart to enable the “contestants” to face one another for that game show feeling, and those who buzzed in with the correct answer gained five points. As in “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”, she even allowed contestants to “phone a friend” at the facility because, as she says, “in real life situations you are never alone; you have your team for support.” After a correct answer, the staff member gained the chance to go for additional points by taking a try at a Velcro dart board.

Because adults like learning to be applicable, says Ms. Hoffman, questions were related to MH skills, tasks, identification and treatment. Some involved patient scenarios that required staff to think critically about potential red flags for an approaching MH crisis. Examples: “Name three ways to actively cool a patient” and “How many milliliters of non-bacteriostatic sterile water are used to reconstitute dantrolene sodium?”

Ms. Hoffman not only was impressed by how competitive staff became, but also by how they brushed up on their MH knowledge so they could perform better and faster in the next rounds during subsequent huddles.

“After each care area completed all 15 questions, we found out which department has the MH brains and the best aim,” says Ms. Hoffman. The care areas then moved on to scenario-based simulations of situations that could commonly occur during their particular stage of the perioperative process. The facility’s chief CRNA and an OR nurse assisted Ms. Hoffman by helping to create the simulations while also playing key roles in them, and then provided debrief education to the group. Hoffman says this reinforced the interdisciplinary communication, teamwork and approach needed to address MH situations. OSM