In-house Training Courses Research Articles

Evaluation of Radiographers’ Experience in Mammography: An Explanatory Study

Background: Similar to most imaging procedures, the high quality of images is a key factor in ensuring that mammography delivers its full potential benefits. Radiographers play a central role in the acquisition of high-quality images, as they are responsible for not only breast positioning and compression, but also quality control and patient care. Objectives: To identify the challenges and difficulties of radiographers in daily practice and to determine the main components of mammography that require further training and education. Patients and Methods: An online survey was conducted to collect data regarding the radiographers’ demographic data, institution profile, image assessment tools, mammography challenges, quality control, and continuing professional development. Results: A total of 73 radiographers participated in this study, the majority of whom were full-time radiographers with a bachelor’s degree in radiography. Less than half of the participants had been a mammographer for more than five years. The American College of Radiology (ACR) criteria were the most familiar image quality assessment tool (52%). The most frequently used scale to evaluate image quality was posterior breast tissue visualization on both craniocaudal (CC) and mediolateral oblique (MLO) views, followed by the pectoral muscle volume determined on the MLO view. Overall, positioning, artifacts, and compression were the main reasons for repeat mammography. Also, wheelchair-bound patients, overweight patients, and breast compression were the greatest challenges of patient positioning. Conclusion: This pilot study highlighted the importance of developing in-house training courses for radiographers, which focus on patient positioning, image quality assessment, and patient-centered needs to improve practice standards. However, further studies on a larger sample size are needed to validate the present results.

The need for updating nurses’ knowledge and skills in the field of recommendations for diabetes care

Abstract Aim. The aim of this study was to assess the need for updating nurses’ knowledge and skills in the field of diabetes care recommendations. Material and methods. The study included 580 nurses who were master’s degree students. A knowledge test including 20 questions on 10 procedures mentioned in the recommendations was used to collect research data. A total of 93.3% of students in the study group were professionally active. Results. A total of 11.9% of respondents had access to diabetes care recommendations. The largest knowledge deficits were found for: leaving an ‘old’ cannula for continuous insulin infusion using an insulin pump for 2-3 hours in place to allow for absorption of the accumulated insulin after inserting a new one; the time it takes to calibrate a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system by measuring capillary blood glucose after insertion of a CGM electrode; and indications for alternate site testing. Poor, fair, and good level of knowledge on recommendations was found in 12.8%, 84.3%, and 2.9% of respondents, respectively. Conclusions. 1) The level of knowledge of studying nurses on diabetic care recommendations is unsatisfactory. 2) Specialised nurses, as well as those participating in in-house training courses on diabetes and those declaring the accessibility of recommendations at workplace show a higher level of knowledge. 3) In the light of the development of new medical technologies, periodic workshops focusing on practical skills should be organised for nurses in their workplace, enabling the use of equipment for insulin administration and glucose monitoring.

Human-factors lessons from a longitudinal, in-vivo study of operations at a low-cost carrier

Apart from Ginnett's (1990) seminal paper, there are few in-vivo studies of flight operations and of crew resource management (CRM). This paper presents an ethnographic account of 56 intra-European flights and an in-house CRM training course. It was found that: 1) pilot-cabin crew teams functioned effectively; 2) safety-critical flight-deck routines were subject to interruption; 3) pilots and cabin crewmembers provided emotional support to colleagues; 4) pilots who had not operated for a considerable time could be rostered to operate services to challenging airfields. The findings suggested that: 1) joint training of pilots and cabin crew in CRM delivers benefits; 2) benefits would accrue from expanding the CRM training catchment; 3) services to challenging airfields must be crewed by pilots who operate regularly. The observations made by Ginnett 20-years ago still hold. It is recommended that the industry develops a complete understanding of the lived-reality of flight operations.

Enhancing the sustainability of employees' careers through training: The roles of career actors' openness and of supervisor support

Adopting a quasi-experimental design with four points in measurement, this study developed and tested a model whose variables represented key elements of the sustainable career process as captured in up-to-date thinking. The model posited that employees' openness to experience and supervisor support for training would lead to increases in employees' job performance and employability via learning as the result of an employer-sponsored training course. Training represented the contribution of the employer, who is the other key stakeholder in sustainable careers. The model was tested on 334 salespersons who attended an in-house job training course. Job performance and employability, as assessed by line managers, increased substantially and significantly following the training with respect to their pre-training levels, and learning as a result of the training mediated the relationships of openness to experience and supervisor support with the increases in job performance and employability. Contrary to expectations of a positive synergy, a substitution effect was found between openness and supervisor support in fostering learning as result of training, and subsequently, increases in job performance and employability. The study provided a comprehensive albeit short-term picture of the sustainable careers process as conceptualized in the theoretical literature. In addition, it illustrated the effectiveness of job training in the enhancement of employability. The implications of the study for theory and further research on sustainable careers and employability are discussed.

Support workers as leaders: yes, you can …

This is an article written following a presentation given at a national conference on the ‘Progression and Development in the Role of Support Workers’ in November 2012. Within this article, the author will highlight the important leadership role that support workers can and need to embrace. The article is aimed at three groups: first and most important, support workers themselves; second, managers; and third, educationalists in charge of developing and delivering both in-house and external training courses. Two key areas will be discussed where leadership by support workers is vital: quality and the management of change. The article will finish by looking at how support workers can be supported and developed within this often new role by managers and educationalists.

Training improves inter-collegial communication

Good intercollegial communication is a relatively unstudied topic, although it is important for both health professionals and patients, contributing to enhanced well-being, self-awareness and integrity for health professionals, and positively affecting patient outcome and satisfaction. To investigate whether a communication skills training course would improve intercollegial communication in an orthopaedic department. The study was designed as an intervention study investigating the effectiveness of an in-house training course, evaluated by means of questionnaires. A total of 177/181 (97.8%) participants answered the questionnaire before (T1), 165/169 (97.6%) immediately after (T2) and 150/153 (98%) 6 months after the course (T3). Of six questions about intraprofessional communication, one and two questions were evaluated significantly higher at T2 and T3, respectively. Of the six questions about interprofessional communication, the increase was statistically significant for four questions in T2 and for five questions in T3, respectively. A communication skills training course improved health care professionals' assessment of intercollegial communication, and this was more pronounced in interprofessional rather than in intraprofessional communication, and was more pronounced 6 months after the training course than immediately after the training course. Communication skills training for health care professionals is recommended, and should also include all health care professions that have patient contact.

技術者倫理啓蒙のための教育とその展開活動について

Education on ethics for corporate employees, especially for engineers, seems to become increasingly important for most of companies in Japan, because some affairs or scandals caused by ethical problem in many companies were likely to subject them to operational disadvantages. Even in Hitachi, Ltd., we have worked on education of engineering ethics for two years. In this paper, we describe some activities of committees on engineering ethics, an e-learning training course which is usable on our intranet e-learning system, and a short-term in-house training course operated regularly in our training institute. And we also refer to its dissemination activities to employees in each division and some subsidiaries.

823 循環型社会を迎えた企業のDFE教育(PD-1 インバースマニュファクチャリングのためのライフサイクル設計)

823 循環型社会を迎えた企業のDFE教育(PD-1 インバースマニュファクチャリングのためのライフサイクル設計)

Analytical Chemistry in a GMP Environment: A Practical Guide. James M. Miller and Jonathan B. Crowther, eds. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2000, 509 pp., $115.00, hardcover. ISBN 0-471-31431-5.

I like this book. It grew out of “a need for more and better training of pharmaceutical laboratory analysts, as perceived by the Food and Drug Administration”. In the spring of 1996, Johnson & Johnson began the development of a two-week, in-house training course to meet this need. That course became the basis for this book. The 15 chapters are contributed by 21 authors, 17 from industry (Janssen is well represented with 10 authors), …

Quality in Chemical Measurements: Training Concepts and Teaching Materials

This book is based on presentations given at the 2nd EURACHEM Workshop on Current Issues in Teaching Quality in Chemical Measurements, held at GKSS (27-29 September 1998). Fifteen presentations are included, all of which are centred on overhead transparencies which are printed in small size (some are almost illegible) in the book. The printed slides are intended mainly for identification since all (over 300) are contained on a CD-ROM, which accompanies the book. Thus any slides may be downloaded and printed for use in training or teaching in the field of quality assurance in chemical measurement. The content of the slides varies from a few lines of text to quite involved figures, tables and flow diagrams. In my experience, publishing information in this format is rare, but made possible by the continuing advances in information technology. Whether it is successful remains to be seen. To download the slides, PowerPoint 97 or PowerPoint Viewer 97 is needed together with a PC operating Windows 95 or later. The viewer can be downloaded from the Microsoft homepages as shareware. The presentations are divided into four sections. The first section contains three lectures, which cover analytical quality management and quality assurance in industry, academia and research projects. The second section contains five worked examples of teaching analytical quality concepts. This is followed by four descriptive experiments designed to demonstrate the principles of quality assurance. The final section covers course structures, contents and experiences. The stated aim of the book is to provide a reference text and source of course materials for lecturers and also to act as an advanced textbook for analytical students and professional analysts. The book has certainly achieved its first aim and should be genuinely useful to teachers of analytical chemistry at honours degree level and for some postgraduate as well as in-house training courses. Whether it will prove useful as an advanced textbook is more doubtful since the way in which the material is presented does not make it very readable. Certainly, I would not recommend the book for this purpose unless it was linked specifically to a particular lecture or training course. Generally, production of the book and accompanying CD-ROM is of a high standard. R T Bailey

Training for information technology at King Abdulaziz University Librar y

Describes the training issues and concerns raised by the rapidly growing provision of online library services, including: online public access catalogues (OPACs); CD-ROM databases; full-text databases; online document delivery and access to the Internet and World Wide Web (in the near future), at King Abdulaziz University Library (KAUL), Saudi Arabia. Outlines the training programmes developed by the Central Library to meet the needs of users of these online services. Training priorities included: the provision of librarians with the necessary confidence and competence in using information technology (IT); and the training of library users (academic staff and students) to help them cope with the ever changing environment of the library. The Arabian Advance Systems company (agents for SilverPlatter, UMI, DIALOG and Bowker-Saur in Saudi Arabia) arranged a one week in-house training course, in CD-ROM and online searching, for the staff working in the CD-ROM information network department. Similar courses were run for branch librarians in various associated colleges. Other courses involved self-study, telephone and video based training. Concludes with notes on the campus user training programme, which is limited to academic staff, demonstrators, assistant lecturers and postgraduate students, and the evening advanced training programmes. The Library was satisfied with the success of their efforts to help users to find their way through the Library’s IT facilities.

Basic Principles of Hplc and Hplc System Troubleshooting A Two-Day In-House Training Course

Basic Principles of Hplc and Hplc System Troubleshooting A Two-Day In-House Training Course

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF HPLC AND HPLC SYSTEM TROUBLESHOOTING. A Two-Day In-House Training Course

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF HPLC AND HPLC SYSTEM TROUBLESHOOTING. A Two-Day In-House Training Course

Basic Principles of HPLC and HPLC System Troubleshooting a Two-Day In-House Training Course

Basic Principles of HPLC and HPLC System Troubleshooting a Two-Day In-House Training Course

Organizations as Students — The Challenge for Education

‘For many colleges, business as usual will mean no business with business.’ The old notion that distinct boundaries exist between the world of education and the world of commerce no longer applies. Increasingly, each is taking on part of the other's traditional role. Carol Aslanian, drawing on her experiences as Director of Adult Learning Services for The College Board in the USA, sets out the new cultural and attitudinal approaches that must be put into practice if industry and education are to cooperate fruitfully in the field of education and training. She focuses on the characteristics of the organization as ‘student’, the competition offered to colleges by companies' own in-house training courses and resources, and the ways in which colleges need to adapt if they are to keep a foot in the door of corporate education.

Performance Auditing System for Drilling Units and Platforms

Summary For a number of years, the drilling industry has measured a negative aspect, "lost time accidents" (LTA), to indicate the safety performance of a drilling unit or performance of a drilling unit or platform. The performance auditing platform. The performance auditing system presented here is a positive approach to measuring the safety performance of a drilling unit or performance of a drilling unit or platform. The system gives the rig owner platform. The system gives the rig owner indicators to help steer and improve safety management and an attractive incentive for crew to contribute to a safe drilling unit or platform. Introduction Although safety and health always have had considerable attention within our organization, the number of LTA's became unacceptably high in 1984. At that time, it was decided to restructure safety management within the company. A qualified nautical officer dedicated his time to set up a safety management system. In this phase, safety policies and procedures were written for the operations procedures were written for the operations manual. The condition of the safety hardware on the drilling units was further improved. The available accident reports were reviewed, and the results showed that most accidents occurred on the rig floor. On the basis of this evaluation, management decided to install an automatic pipe-handling system for making up and breaking out tubulars on all drilling units. These steps (new procedures and policies, better hardware, and drill-floor mechanization) resulted in a drastic improvement in the accident frequency rate. Also, considerable funds and manpower were made available for safety improvement drives and programs aimed to ensure the safety of the programs aimed to ensure the safety of the employees in their work environment. Safety programs covered a wide range of activities, such as on-the-job supervision, safety introductions for newcomers, in-house training courses on safe maintenance and operation of drilling equipment, regular safety hardware inspections, procedures to handle chemicals safely, anonymous near-miss reporting, accident investigation and analysis, emergency contingency plans, and engineering process control. Periods without LTA's were rewarded with cash or gifts. A downward trend in the frequency rate continued until 1988, alter which the number of LTA's increased. The cause of this increase was not immediately identified. More accidents occurred worldwide, as reflected in an increase in the frequency rate. New initiatives were launched in 1989 to curb this trend. A separate department put even more effort into safety and created a positive image of safety progress by means positive image of safety progress by means of the performance auditing system.

Education and training in office technology

In recent years the 'IT skills shortage' has received consid erable publicity, although the term has been used in a general sense, covering all aspects of IT in this country. The paper discusses the concept, its interpretation and the initiatives to combat it. The education and training of managerial/profes sional personnel in the uses of office technology is but a part of the problem, and the training provision for this sector is categorized and summarized. Finding appropriate courses is another problem and the sources of such information are also summarized. A small survey of organizations' perceptions of training needs was carried out and the results reported, indicat ing a desire for short in-house training courses, rather than academic courses leading to qualifications.

Developing an In-house Training Curriculum In Written Communication

In-house training courses in written communication have been widely researched and documented. But is a one-time classroom effort effective in building writing skills? The author believes not and documents, through a case study, how one organization developed a series of learning experiences in written communication for its employees. The article may serve as a starting point for others who would like to develop such a series in their own organizations.