Transforming staff training at an acute trust in response to COVID-19.

Abstract

In nursing, there has traditionally been significant emphasis on face-to-face staff training, but in 2020 methods of delivering staff training had to be overhauled in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Rapid and extensive changes to staff training were made across care settings to ensure that service needs were met and that everyone's safety was maintained. At one large acute trust in London, the clinical nurse education team used Lewin's change model to make adaptations to staff training and embed these changes in practice. The team transferred most of the training onto a virtual learning platform and used this as an opportunity to review and enhance the accessibility and inclusiveness of training. This article describes how staff training was transformed and how the role of clinical nurse educator evolved at the trust during the COVID-19 pandemic. The author also demonstrates how Lewin's model of change can be applied to make changes and embed them in practice.