Is a web-based education portal a useful education tool for physiotherapy staff on a busy rehabilitation ward? Michele Callisaya 1 (presenter) & Dawn Simpson 1 1 Physiotherapy Department, Royal Hobart Hospital

PLAN : Identifying the problem  Training and professional development is essential:  provision of high quality, effective and evidence-based care  increasing the expertise, competence, progression and retention of allied health professionals  Physiotherapy Rehabilitation Team  2 junior staff – 4 month rotations  2 senior staff - new to key teaching positions  existing resources lacked structure/difficult to find

PLAN : Objective  To improve the quality of education across the RHH rehabilitation physiotherapy service:  Ensure knowledge in key areas of rehabilitation  Assist senior senior staff deliver education  Education all in one place and easily accessible  Sustainable program if staff moved on

PLAN: Strategy Develop a web-based education portal ( complement but not replace practical training )

DO: Review current education

DO : Creation of the Education Portal DHHS Communal Knowledge Base

DO: Creation of the Education Portal

DO : Promotion of the portal

CHECK: Junior staff benefits “The portal was easy to navigate around” “Good to have first few weeks of rotation set with the essentials, then pick and choose” “It was good to have useful articles already identified” “I found it most useful when I had a patient with that condition” “It meant I could read up on the topic before asking any further questions of the senior”

CHECK: Senior staff benefits “It was good as a reference guide to what I should be teaching” “If I was pushed for time is was good to point the student in the portal direction as all the learning material was in one place” “I used it for my own learning” “It was useful to have the in-service timetable on the portal – I knew straight way where to go rather than looking through the o:drive”

CHECK: Junior staff problems “It was hard to find the rehab page from the front page” “After the first 4 weeks I didn’t use it as much as I would run out of time” “Fitting in time was hard I didn’t want the senior to think I was on the computer all the time!” “I don’t want it to replace practical in-services from seniors”

CHECK : The surprise..

ACT & Conculsion  Web-based education portal  Education all in one place and easily accessible  Structured approach to education  Time saver for senior staff  On-going modifications  Dedicated time & combine with practical sessions  Explore journal club & other self-learning packages

Acknowledgements John Horton Dawn Simpson Sam de Zoete Frances Palaya