Staff education

Staff training to perform needling of Arterio-Venous (AV) access forms part of the Clinical Practice Recommendation for Needling of Arteriovenous Fistulae and Grafts for Haemodialysis.

The MAGIC e-learning is based on these recommendations and provides a detailed and level structured e-learning module for renal nurses; not just to increase individual knowledge but to raise national standardised competency levels in care and management of Haemodialysis (AV) access.

Needling is the bread and butter of what we do, we need to be providing the same care

E-Learning reports from KQuIP helped us to maintain momentum and improve staff knowledge

Top tips for implementing the MAGIC e-learning

  1. Be realistic about time to complete - it can take between 2 ½ hours – 4 hours

  1. Enthusiasm first - Find those who are enthusiastic and encourage them to complete as quick as possible – they will become your best advocates for the course

  1. Allocation of time for staff on a rota. (E.g. nurse A will have 1 hour on Tuesday; nurse B 1 hour on Wednesday etc)

  1. Avoid small amounts of allocated time – not long enough to learn/ log in to system/ clear brain of external pressures

  1. Complete at home – time given back by unit managers

  1. Use of unit ‘quiet’ time to complete

  1. Avoid using groups of staff – only the person logged in would then show as completed and receive the certificate

  1. Check junk mail for username and passwords

  1. KQuIP support - Keep the email close to hand…you will need it

  1. Staff development – use the course for revalidation and staff appraisals

Regularly implementing the Look, Listen, and Feel assessment tool has increased number of scans and multi-disciplinary discussions

Miriam Mason, vascular access nurse from Brighton and lead of the Southeast MAGIC quality improvement project shared her thoughts about completing the eLearning. You can look at her slides here, or watch a video of her presentation here.