New Learning Tool for Remote Health Workers to be Launched
A new online learning tool that helps remote health practitioners sharpen their skills without ever leaving home, will be launched by CRANAplus with the help of Hon. Warren Snowdon on 29 June in Alice Springs.
The CRANAplus eRemote online learning program will empower health professionals by delivering learning modules that are engaging, interactive and relevant to rural and remote practice. The program offers specialised educational opportunities for nurses, doctors, paramedics and Aboriginal health workers.
Health professionals working in remote regions struggle for access to continuing education opportunities, particularly ones with relevance to the remote environment. “Travel cost and time away from work and family are major inhibitors, and that’s only if relief staff is available to take over their duties for a few day,” says CRANAplus President Christopher Cliffe. “The nature of remote work means that many practitioners work in professional as well as geographic isolation. Having a way to sharpen skills without traveling halfway around Australia is a great benefit to remote practitioners and the people who they serve.
These training modules are a supplement to hands-on clinical training and offer an opportunity for clinicians to up skilling and refresh their clinical knowledge base. It is not intended as replacement for solid clinical training.
The content of the program will be based on the information provided in the CRANAplus First Line Emergency Care (FLEC) courses, the online survey results and the competencies that are deemed essential for safe practice. The programs will be flexible in their delivery modes and self-paced to allow the individual health professional to complete in their own time frame.
The modules will encourage health professionals to make context specific decisions with directional feedback that encourages them to reflect upon their decisions and develop their critical thinking skills in the remote clinical setting.
In order to meet the challenge of overcoming traditional barriers to continuing education CRANAplus has recognised the need for health professionals to access innovative educational delivery methods. CRANAplus has been delivering specialized training to remote health practitioner for over 15 years. “This organisation is constantly looking for ways to better serve the sector and this is our latest offering,” says Mr. Cliffe.
CRANAplus is a membership organisation whose sole focus is remote health and their aim is to support remote health workers striving to provide an optimal standard of health care to their clientele. With funding from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, they provide clinical and cultural awareness training as well as support for multi-disciplinary health workers and their families working in remote or isolated regions of Australia.
CRANAplus is dedicated to the development and delivery of safe, high quality primary healthcare to remote and isolated areas of Australia through the education and support of remote health practitioners and advocacy for the issues affecting them and the people in their care.
The launch event is being held at 2:30pm on Tuesday 29th June at the Right MoveTraining office at 3/2 Gregory Tce, in Alice Springs.