Nurse Upskilling During Crisis: Collaborating for Continuing Education.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Critical Care
• Pandemic Response

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic increased demand for intensive care unit (ICU) nurses skilled in mechanical ventilation.
• Hospitals faced challenges with limited resources, reassigning staff and increasing the need for rapid training.
• Newly assigned ICU nurses reported feeling unprepared, emphasizing the need for accessible education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the critical need for ICU nursing education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To develop a scalable and accessible training solution for nurses transitioning to ICU roles.

Main Methods:

• Created a free, online, self-paced, asynchronous course focused on ICU nursing.
• Leveraged collaboration between clinical partners, instructional designers, and nursing experts.

Main Results:

• Over 4,000 learners globally enrolled in the course.
• 94% of surveyed respondents anticipate a positive institutional impact from the training.

Conclusions:

• The project demonstrates an effective collaborative model for continuing nursing education.
• This approach successfully addressed urgent needs in critical care nursing during a public health crisis.