Jill Hinnersh*tz talks Clinical Education at LVHN's Department of Education (2024)

Jill, tell us about your healthcare experience.

Jill Hinnersh*tz is an Education Specialist with the Professional Development Team within the Lehigh Valley Health Network’s (LVHN) Department of Education (DoE).Jill began her journey at LVHN in 2003 as a Technical Partner in the Emergency Department. After graduating from Cedar Crest College with her Bachelors’ degree in Nursing, Jill worked as a registered nurse on the Neuroscience Medical Surgical unit. While working at the bedside, Jill became a mentor, a preceptor and a resource for new nurses, nursing students and other clinical roles. During her time on the Neuroscience unit, Jill functioned in both management and educator roles. Jill discovered that teaching was her passion and she pursued her Master’s degree in nursing education in 2010 from Cedar Crest College. Throughout her career in medical surgical nursing, Jill worked closely with the DoE and strived to become a part of its dynamic and innovative education team. In 2013, she achieved her goal as she joined the DoE Professional Development Team as an Education Specialist. In 2014, Jill achieved her certification in Nursing Professional Development through the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Tell us about your role as an Education Specialist in the Lehigh Valley Health Network’s Department of Education.

As an Education Specialist within the DoE, I am responsible for the onboarding education of a variety of clinical roles that are new to our network. My role allows me to teach in both classroom and simulation settings. We have an outstanding simulation center in which learners are able to use their skills to provide care in a safe setting with the utilization of manikins and standardized patients. Within my role, I am able to use a variety of resources within our department to develop, revise and implement curriculum that fulfills the needs of our learners and meets organizational standards for patient care. The classroom and simulation settings allow our learners to function in a safe learning environment and practice skills before using them on a patient. This benefits our patients by ensuring that we are delivering excellent care and increasing the patient satisfaction experience at LVHN.

Tell us about the LVHN onboarding process and the value of attending it.

Onboarding at LVHN consists of classroom learning, simulation workshops and eLearning module education.Most importantly, onboarding includes scheduled clinical time in which a new colleague is paired with a learning preceptor. The value of attending onboarding prepares the new learner with the necessary knowledge and practice of skills to provide safe, accurate, efficient and quality care to our patients. If a newly hired clinician has previous experience in healthcare, she/he also attends onboarding to assure how patient care is delivered according the LVHN mission and values. I am very excited to share that we recently implemented an Onboarding LVHN mobile application and website. This innovative application allows new colleagues to easily access schedules, parking maps, driving directions, eating locations and helpful resources. New colleagues are also encouraged to create a profile within this application to facilitate collaborative networking. The end result of successful onboarding provides a learner with the necessary knowledge, skills and resources to provide optimal health care to our patients at LVHN. Successful onboarding also increases staff retention and satisfaction as new employees adequately prepare for their journey at LVHN.

What makes the Department of Education unique to new leaners?

The DoE offers valuable, implementable knowledge for the patient care setting. Within this department, we strive to promote a culture of ongoing growth and development to our front line health care providers. Our department is unique because we offer a variety of programs based on a learner’s specialty and experience. A large volume of our learners are nurses and clinical support staff. All nurses hired at LVHN attend an overall general onboarding curriculum, but we then take it one step further based on their specialty in which they will be practicing. Nurses hired into critical care or progressive care units attend our critical care course, which includes informative workshops, online education modules and simulation scenarios. Nurses entering into the emergency department receive specialized training in our emergency nursing orientation program. This course also offers workshops, eLearning education modules and simulations applicable to the emergency setting. Nurses hired into the medical-surgical setting attend our medical-surgical internship in which new learners receive additional education through online modules and simulations. Nurses selected to work in our women’s and children specialties attend specific workshops, online modules and simulations created for the learner.To support graduate nurses in their transition into professional practice, LVHN offers a Nurse Residency program for all newly-hired, newly-graduated nurses. This year-long program utilizes an evidence-based curriculum customized to reflect the LVHN values and mission. This program includes regularly-scheduled interactive forums, access to content experts and participation in an evidence-based project. Curriculum for the Nurse Residency program also focuses on leadership, patient outcomes and professional role.

For new learners in the clinical support staff role, LVHN partners with Northampton Community College (NCC) to provide an orientation program to help them prepare for patient care. For those without prior health care experience, we offer an 8-week program that is a combination of intensive nurse aide training and the LVHN technical partner curriculum. The nurse aide courses prepares the technical partner with entry level skills. The technical partner curriculum provides advanced skills that are necessary to work in an acute care setting at LVHN. We offer a 6-week program for experienced staff hired into the technical partner or certified nursing assistance role. This program provides advanced skills beyond that of a nurse aide which will prepare the technical partner for transition to the acute care settings within LVHN. Training with NCC includes workshop based education and simulation practice of skills at the DoE. Additional partnerships with NCC orientation programs include: mental health technician training, mental health aide training, patient observation training and rehab partner training. The DoE also provides workshops and hands-on training for newly hired administrative partners and patient transporters. Our DoE offers a unique orientation experience for nursing students hired into the Professional Student Nurse Assistant and the Professional Student Patient Observation Assistant roles. Orientation workshops and simulations for this group of learners provide additional LVHN policy and procedure knowledge to prepare the student nurse to take care of patients. This program allows nursing students to be exposed to patient care in a variety of settings and prepares them for their future nursing careers at LVHN. This program provides an excellent learning opportunity and experience for nursing students.

LVHN has a Magnet Hospital designation, Can you detail what the means and explain the importance of how that benefits patient care?

A Magnet designated hospital stands for excellence. Four consecutive times, the American Nurses Credentialing Center has designated LVHN as a Magnet Hospital. Only 7 percent of hospitals in the nation hold this distinguished honor and we are the only Magnet hospital in the Lehigh Valley. Magnet nurses utilize the latest technology and evidence-based practice to provide quality care to our patients. Nurses at LVHN mentor the next generation of nurses and continue to grow professionally in the Magnet environment. So what does it mean to a patient receiving care in the Magnet environment of LVHN? Magnet means your nurses have earned the seal of approval for quality care. It means you are in experienced and knowledgeable hands and studies have shown that Magnet hospitals have high patient satisfaction and better quality outcomes. The latest technology resources provide patients with safe and innovative care in the Magnet environment. Nurses in the Magnet network conduct research to assure that patients receive the best scientifically proven, evidenced-based care. Magnet is the ultimate benchmark to measure the level of care patients expect to receive at LVHN. Patients rank our nursing care above the 90th percentile among similar hospitals nationwide. As a registered nurse, it is truly an honor and makes me proud to work in a Magnet designated hospital!

How do nurses contribute to patient engagement at LVHN?

Nurses at LVHN contribute to patient engagement at LVHN in a variety of ways. Patient education is a huge part of the nurse’s role at LVHN. Nurses continue to use teach-back methods to engage patients in their care and to assure that patients understand their diagnosis, medications and procedures. Nurses also participate in daily interdisciplinary huddles or rounds within their designated units. Huddles and rounds are utilized to plan for patient admissions, transfers and discharges. Quality and safety measures are also key components included during huddles and rounds to promote the best care. Often patients and/or a family member are involved in huddles and rounds to promote partnering of care in which mutual treatment goals and plans are determined and set forth. The use of MyChart bedside iPads allows patients to be engaged partners within their care at LVHN. MyChart bedside is an innovative and patient driven initiative in which patients receive real-time information about their care. Nurses and clinical support staff instruct patients on how to use the iPad and encourage the utilization of the MyChart bedside throughout their stay.Patients can easily review vital signs, test results and a list of their medications. Patient education materials can also be accessed through MyChart bedside allowing patients to review pertinent information at their convenience. MyLVHN also provides the ability for our patients and community to be engaged partners in care. MyLVHN is a secure, free mobile site that connects patients with personal health information. Medical information, immunizations history, medications and test results can be accessed within the MyLVHN application. Scheduling of appointments, requesting prescription refills and messaging of health care providers can be completed within the utilization of MyLVHN. Nurses encourage patients to sign up or access MyLVHN during their stay at LVHN. MyLVHN can also be accessed within the MyChart bedside application enabling patients to know their story of health care at LVHN.