Low Resource, High Impact: Just-In-Time Training Toolkit in Response to a Public Health Crisis

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Infection Prevention and Control
• Occupational Safety

Background:

• Infectious disease crises necessitate specialized training for healthcare professionals.
• The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for effective personal protective equipment (PPE) education.
• A toolkit was created to train nurses and nursing students on PPE use within the hierarchy of controls.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide frontline nurses and nursing students with just-in-time training on PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of this training using simulation methods.
• To assess learner and instructor satisfaction, self-confidence, and design of the training materials.

Main Methods:

• Development of interactive online content including briefing, simulation, and debriefing modules.
• Recruitment of participants through professional, practice, and academic networks.
• Collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative evaluation data from participants.

Main Results:

• 1,239 participants from 18 countries, predominantly female (89%) nurses (97%) aged 20-30 (81%).
• High overall satisfaction reported by both learners (M = 4.5) and instructors (M = 4.1).
• Positive feedback on self-confidence and training design.

Conclusions:

• Simulation-based just-in-time training with online video observation is a viable method for pandemic-related education.
• This approach offers nurse educators a rapid, feasible, and safe way to teach infection prevention and occupational safety.
• The toolkit effectively supports learning crisis-specific guidance for academia and practice settings.