Nurses Leading the Transformation of Patient Care Through Telehealth.

The essential role of nurses in leading, developing and improving Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) telehealth services and programs was a key reason the organization was selected to receive the American Nurses Credentialing Center 2013 Magnet Prize®. This manuscript details what telehealth is and the innovations within LVHN telehealth; it also discusses essential ingredients to design, implement and evaluate telehealth services

Training Impact on Novice and Experienced Research Coordinators

Competency-based training and professional development is critical to the clinical research enterprise. Understanding research coordinators’ perspectives is important for establishing a common core curriculum. The purpose of this study was to describe participants’ perspectives regarding the impact of online and classroom training sessions. 27 participants among three institutions, completed a two-day classroom training session. 10 novice and seven experienced research coordinators participated in focus group interviews. Grounded theory revealed similarities in novice and experienced coordinator themes including Identifying Preferences for Instruction and Changing Self Perceptions. Differences, seen in experienced participants, focused on personal change, in the theme of Re-Assessing Skills. Infrastructure and cultural issues were evident in their theme, Promoting Leadership and Advocacy. Novice participants recommended ways to improve training via their theme of Making Programmatic Improvements. Participants reported a clear preference for classroom learning. Training played an influential role in changing participants’ self-perceptions by validating their experiences. The findings provided guidance for developing a standardized curriculum. Training must be carefully tailored to the needs of participants while considering audience needs based on work experience, how technology can be used and offering content that is most urgently needed