Mexican Fiesta Competency Skills Fair at the Phoenix Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center
Nurses don’t often look forward to completing their mandatory annual competencies, but the nurses at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center have developed a reason to get excited for theirs every year for the past three years now.
This year, the Medicine and Surgical Specialty Clinics competencies for nurses here looked more like a Mexican Fiesta than a training environment. However, that fun and festive atmosphere is exactly what made this year’s Medicine and Surgical Specialty Clinics 3rd Annual Competency Skills Fair, held on March 31, such a resounding success.
“The reason I developed the skills fairs in this format is to provide education in an innovative manner,” said Dr. Regina Ward, DNP, the Surgical Specialty Clinics Unit Based Educator for the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center. “I developed a model where employees complete didactic education in clinical skills in advance, then attend the skills fair to practice hands on skills.”
The positive results from Dr. Ward’s program can be seen in how quickly this training is completed, how excited nurses are to attend each skills station and the immediate increase in staff morale after attending the skills fair.
The Medicine and Surgical Specialty Clinics here will be completed five months early for fiscal year 2023. Additionally, nurses who attend the skills fair look forward to the festive decorations, laughter, goodie bags, and smiles that accompany the competency skills training and assessment happening there.
“This skills fair was one of the best I have attended anywhere, and I have worked in several hospitals in the valley,” said Stephanie Kristofic, who is an RN for the Department of Endocrinology here.” Dr. Ward and her team made a boring, required competency very fun, interactive and entertaining.”
At the core of this Mexican Fiesta is the very serious competencies skills that are needed so that these nurses can have the assurance in their abilities to offer the best possible care to the Veterans who come to the Phoenix VA Medical Clinic. This year Dr. Ward worked with Ingrid Alvarado-Saenz, who has an MSN and is the Medicine Clinics Educator for the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center. They worked together this year to extend the reach of this format for completing competencies.
The nurses here have to complete training modules. Then hands on training on handwashing, suicide prevention and the ARJO lift equipment are mandatory competencies that are completed by each nurse. The annual competencies are selected through collaboration with frontline nurses, educators, managers and executive nurse leaders.
At the fair, they are evaluated on the required competencies by demonstrating these skills. According to Alvarado-Saenz, the environment created by the Mexican Fiesta helps them to not be nervous.
“Since they have already learned these skills, this helps them to relax, recall and demonstrate what they have learned,” said Alvarado-Saenz. “They can have fun and get evaluated on the skills they have learned.”
“I have been doing nursing for 30 plus years, mostly in the private sector,” said Anthony Aulicino, who is an LPN in the Podiatry Clinic here. “The traditional approach is you are given a particular skill and you have to perform it and, in some cases, teach it. I feel it becomes very dry with information thrown at you year in and year out.”
According to Aulicino, this approach doesn’t lead to lasting retention. However, he feels the process here, of learning on your own before-hand and having an interactive atmosphere that has a personal touch in a stress-free environment, increases retention.
This year’s Mexican Fiesta competency skills fair included staff from 22 clinics and evaluated six competencies. The March 31 fair was the first of two dates scheduled for this annual requirement, and brought in 70 employees made up of 67 percent from the Medicine Specialty Clinics, 79 percent from the Surgical Specialty Clinics, a nurse manager and an assistant manager.
Dr. Ward is very appreciative of all the support from the managers who allowed the nurses to volunteer, and to all the registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nurse assistant volunteers. For Dr. Ward, each year’s fair is a team effort.
“There will be another skills fair next year,” said Dr. Ward. “I haven’t decided on a theme yet.”
However, Dr. Ward said there is already talk that next year the skills fair may grow beyond the confines of the specialty clinics at the Phoenix VA Medical Center to the entire Phoenix VA Health Care System, to include PACT Clinics.