Clinicians are continually asked to use new equipment. So, in this episode, Jasmine Reece, BSN, RN, joins me to share how she trains clinicians on medical devices, and helps them adapt and develop new workflows.
Jasmine has been a nurse for the past 10 years, working in a variety of critical areas. Most recently she’s stepped away from direct patient care to provide clinical education regarding medical devices. You can find her on LinkedIn.
Highlights include:
4:16 – JR: “They immediately assume that I’m a sales rep and that I have no clinical understanding so they’re a little apprehensive initially. But once I start talking to them and I tell them, ‘Hey, you know, I’m a nurse, too’, you can visibly see them relax and they start to become more engaged in the learning process.”
6:25 – JR: “Some facilities don’t have the actual bedside nurse who touches that equipment sit at the table and help with those decisions. And sometimes that can, from my experience, cause some staff to just feel as if they don’t have a voice.”
8:00 – JR: “It’s more about just showing the device as a tool and not as an additional piece of equipment that’s going to bombard your workday and slow you down. But as a way to really just make your day more efficient and to allow the care that you provide your patients to be even more efficient, as well.”
8:38 – JR: “When I actually provide the education directly to the clinical staff, I start by asking, tell me how you’re using your equipment.”
11:05 – JR: “Oftentimes, they purchase the latest and greatest and they may not understand the full capability of what those devices can do and what those products can do. So once you start talking to them about it, they really start thinking, well, this really could be another enhancement to our already existing workflow and our already existing manner of providing patient care. But it’s exciting to really see how they use it and how they get creative with what they purchased.”
15:20 – JR: “I want nurses to feel empowered and to never feel intimidated by equipment because we help drive how that equipment is used in hospitals. We help drive how it’s purchased and how products are enhanced. It’s the clinical input that we get from nurses. So I want them to feel comfortable and empowered to use whatever device they’re using, whether it be patient monitoring equipment or a blood pressure machine or anything like that, and just really feel overall empowerment to utilize that device to the best of its ability to provide the best care possible.”
21:30 – JR: “I know, for example, when I was at the bedside, managers didn’t talk to us about the prices of equipment and supplies. I remember just one of my managers actually sat us down and pulled out devices and equipment and syringes and told us the exact amount of what they cost. And it’s pretty jaw dropping when you hear those prices. So it gives you a better appreciation for the equipment that you already have. It gives you a better appreciation for taking care of the supplies that you have, because all of that has a trickle-down effect. It affects how we’re staffed. It affects bonuses and pay raises and additional equipment that we could get. So it’s a really broad cascade.”
Leading with Health is hosted by Jennifer Michelle. Jennifer has a Master’s in Public Health and Epidemiology and is a certified EMT. As President of Michelle Marketing Strategies, Jennifer specializes in healthcare marketing. She is on a mission to create a healthcare system that actually cares about the patients and the providers.