Issue link: http://ncumarketing.uberflip.com/i/1269254
3 STUDENT CENTRIC. REGIONALLY ACCREDITED. NONPROFIT. CREATING WORKFORCE EDUCATION FOR RADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL JOHN LANEAR, PHD, JD PROVOST & CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER As COVID-19 began to spread earlier this year, health care providers took many steps to keep patients safe and prepare for an influx of those with COVID-19. These actions included canceling routine, non- urgent procedures and appointments, and moving much of the non-essential health care workforce home. With some staff facing downtime, Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego turned to National University System's Workforce Education Solutions for help. Workforce Education Solutions engaged NCU faculty to create a professional development series for Rady Hospital's staff and departments so they could pursue professional development during their downtime. The NCU team created a program of engaging content to help Rady nurses, technicians, and staff become more informed and empathetic to behavioral and mental health issues they encounter. Rady needed this professional development training quickly, and we responded. Within three weeks, faculty and staff from NCU and NU developed a 16-hour online training module. It was a collaborative effort between Rady administrators, 21 NCU faculty and Center for Teaching and Learning staff, members of the National University Nursing Program, NUS Workforce Education Solutions, and National Education Partners Instructional Design staff. Faculty created tailored content, and our support teams designed and loaded the content into a vibrant online platform. Faculty worked with support teams to create multiple personalized interaction opportunities throughout the modules, including an "ask the expert" feature and dozens of live Zoom sessions. Simultaneously, our operational teams created tracking processes to ensure Continuing Education Units could be confirmed and awarded to distinct groups of Rady team members. During this time of crisis, there has been a marked increase in mental health and stress-related behaviors, making our faculty's expertise more valuable than ever. I am very proud of the ways our team members came together with Rady Children's Hospital to make this happen – and in such short order. Thanks to their hard work, over 2,100 nurses and allied health staff will become better equipped to help their patients and families.