A recent article posted by Jason A. Wolf with Hospital Impact outlined 5 tactics for your patient experience strategy.  With the current, understandable focus on  the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, facilities are searching for the “golden ticket” to increase patient satisfaction.

Wolf summarized the importance on patient satisfaction by writing, “it is one of the most critical strategic opportunities you have at your disposal to engage your consumer, manage the bottomline and strive for quality outcomes.”

Healthcare Behavioral Assessment

While reading through the 5 tactics to take into consideration with patient experience strategies:

1. Noise Reduction
2. Discharge Process
3. Rounding
4. Responsiveness of Staff/Communication
5. Pain Management

…the attention placed in caregiver attentiveness can not be overlooked.  Vigilant bedside manner is no easy feat.  Not everyone is wired to be care – givers.  But, the people your patients come into contact with become the face of your facility.  Keeping those care – givers happy and positive can make a huge impact on overall satisfaction of your customers…their patients.

Assessing beyond job skills/competencies in caregiver placement is becoming an industry norm.  Interviewing alone in attempts to gauge a clinician’ s innate behavior leaves room for non-standardized and biased decision-making.    Objectively looking into a caregiver’s personality, attitude, cognitive abilities, and job engagement using a standardized test helps minimize these discrepancies.

As Donna Stubbs, Nurse Manager from UTMB Clinical Staffing Solutions explained, “We have used the Prophecy assessments … to weed out those that interviewed well but could have been a potential liability based on behavior or attitude. This is extremely important in these times as hospital reimbursement is limited based on HCAHPS scores. “

We recommend Wolf’s article to facilities looking to maximize their patient experience strategy.

And, for more information on Prophecy’s solution to placing the best fit candidates in your front line, contact Melissa Spangler @ 888-PRE-HIRE opt. 3.

It is a known fact that taking an online nurse competency exam can make one nervous, but this does not always have to be the case.  Taking the time to prepare can minimize the level of what is called “test anxiety”.  One widely accepted definition of test-anxiety is

“…an unpleasant feeling or emotional state that has both physiological and behavioral components and that is experienced in formal testing or other evaluative situations.”
(Dusek, 1980).

A competency assessment is testing those basic job knowledge skills a person should know.  However, this does not thwart general test anxiety that one may experience.  There are some things to remember that can help to minimize test anxiety. Prophecy would like to provide you with some helpful information in preparing to take an exam.

Helpful Online Nurse Competency Exam Taking Tips

1. Environment Conducive to Testing

Make sure you are in an environment that is conducive to testing.

Rationale
A testing environment that is quiet and free of distractions provides a test taker with an optimal environment to be successful.

2. Read Exam Instructions

Make sure you read all exam instructions prior to taking any exam.

Rationale
The exam instructions may contain vital information that can lead to successful completion of exams.

3. Review Study Guides

Exams that contain study guides allow the test taker the ability to study prior to taking an exam.  It is essential that a test taker review any study guides that are provided prior to an exam.

Rationale
Study guides are typically educational in nature and the intention is to achieve the learning objectives.

4. Use Content Outlines

Pay close attention to exams that contain content outlines.

Rationale
The exam content outline can help to minimize test anxiety while allowing the candidate to become familiar with what will be covered in the exam.  Exam Content Outlines can serve as useful tools to allow candidates exposure to topics covered within an exam.  It also allows the test taker an opportunity to “brush up” on any areas they feel is necessary.

5. Offer Proctored Testing Environment

A proctored testing environment is the optimal environment for testing.

Rationale
A proctored environment is the preferred method for exam administration.  There are many variables in a non-proctored environment that can negatively impact exam outcomes such as distractions, time constraints, and technological limitations.  A proctored environment allows for the ability to provide consistency with an optimal testing environment.

Test anxiety has affected most of us at least once in our lifetime.  With adequate time, preparation and adherence to instructions, test anxiety can be minimized so that an individual can be at their peak performance.  We hope you find these testing tips are helpful!

Happy Testing!

High Point, NC (PRWEB) January 17, 2012

Amistaff Healthcare Technology, recognized as industry leader for online, healthcare competency testing, announced its new company name, Prophecy Healthcare, Inc ®. With the expansion of competency assessments and solutions now provided, the company is changing its name from Amistaff HCT to Prophecy Healthcare to better reflect the company’s comprehensive portfolio of employment prediction assessments for the healthcare industry in a time where hospitals seek ways to raise patient satisfaction ratings.

Amistaff HCT’s flagship product, NurseTesting.com, was limited by the name in that it infers the company solely tested “nurses.” With the transition to Prophecy Healthcare, NurseTesting.com became Prophecy Clinical Assessments – one part of a suite of assessments including Behavioral and Situational Assessments that generate a holistic report incorporating interpersonal competencies typically missed in traditional testing.

“The unveiling of Prophecy Healthcare® marks a significant milestone for our company. Since we consolidated our business objective to focus on what we do best, testing and assessment, we were searching for something new. After 3 years of research and development on our “new” assessments, which resulted in us being able to predict the likelihood of success of candidates BEFORE they were hired, we were looking for branding and a name that focused on the predictive value of our new service,” explained Ronald Gonzalez, CEO/Founder of Prophecy Healthcare.

“Prophecy seemed like a natural fit since its definition is on mark with what we are attempting to do with our testing: ‘the foretelling or prediction of what is to come.’ We want to help both hiring managers select the best candidates for their organization and education coordinators evaluate and educate current staff members using the information generated from our Prophecy Assessments.”

In conjunction with the name change, the company also announced the availability of the two aforementioned assessments forming the following testing suite:

•     Prophecy Behavioral Assessments utilize personality and attitude tests to measure cognitive thinking. The results capture behavioral characteristics that predict high performance, such as integrity and conscientiousness.
•     Prophecy Clinical Assessments encompass the extensive exam library of the former NurseTesting.com. The comprehensive, nationally validated library include OSHA and Joint Commission mandatories, nursing and allied assessments, as well as clinical skills checklists.
•     Prophecy Situational Assessments identify caregivers with soft-skills directly correlated to successful nursing practice. Using Prophecy’s Situational Assessments, facilities are able to quantify which caregivers will make the most effective decisions in the workplace.

All of the assessments are web-based, with instant validated scoring, developing a scorecard that highlights each applicant’s strengths and areas for improvement.

Effective immediately, all future business activity will be conducted using the new name. There has been no change in the company’s management or ownership leaving clients with the same Prophecy Crew Members they have grown to know and trust.

About Prophecy Healthcare, Inc ®
Originally founded in 2004 as NurseTesting.com, Prophecy Healthcare® got its start as the first online Pre-Employment Testing Company exclusive to the Healthcare Industry. Initially focusing solely on clinical assessments measuring clinical competencies, efforts to exceed industry expectations led to isolating critical competencies missed in traditional testing initiatives, such as stress tolerance, critical thinking, and teamwork skills. The Prophecy approach offers the ability to find candidates with the clinical hard skills, personality attributes, and desired soft skills to match each organization. For more information about Prophecy, visit http://www.prophecyhealth.com or call 336.802.1070.

Our very own Director of Relationship Management, Meredith Juengel, MBA, was honored as keynote speaker for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Bryan Graduate Programs Orientation and Welcome Reception on Saturday, January 7th.  She addressed the upcoming MBA, MSITM, MSA, MSN/MBA, Graduate Certificate, and Post Graduate Certificate students giving her top 5 tips on getting the most out of their graduate experience.

As a Beta Gamma Sigma inductee (graduating in the top 20% of her class), Meredith gave real testimony to thriving in a graduate program while balancing school, work, and family life.

1) Network with Classmates

She explained that classmates become a support family away from home while reminiscing about being reacquainted with now boss, Melissa Spangler, Prophecy’s Vice President of Client Experiences.  Networking with classmates directly led Meredith to advancing her career, becoming a Prophecy Crew member today.

2) Get to Know Administration

It never hurts to keep in mind that administrators have lives outside the confines of university buildings.  Reminding that professors make outstanding references, Meredith suggested students make it a point to be a positive contributor to each professor’s classroom – a small sacrifice that might open big doors in their future.

3) Keep a Positive Attitude

A huge believer in “you reap what you sow,” Meredith spoke on the effects of negative outlooks on classes.

“Keep from being the negative person waiting for class to begin.  For every class you consider trivial for your future, there will be classmates who value the information, looking forward to learning more on the subject.  A positive outlook can even make time feel like it goes by more quickly.”

4) Set Goals Along the Way

Always keep a big goal ahead of you, written down, within the next 12 calendar months. That way no matter how stressed life gets you can keep your eye on the prize and keep forging through.

5) No Excuses

As she started listing the major life events that could have caused her to push back graduation – changing careers, moving to a new city, two pregnancies, etc. -  Meredith encouraged the new students with her honesty.  Identifying with their fear of personal life being put on hold, she gave them confidence that life can continue to progress forward with attention placed on time management.

In closing, Meredith congratulated the students in taking this big step towards personal and professional development.  She noted that her MBA experience taught her far more than business management – it highlighted how she could maximize her strengths and improve her weaknesses leading her to be a better motivator, manager, mother, and wife.

An integral part to the Prophecy Crew, we commend Meredith’s success in this deserved recognition and expect her to be honored as keynote speaker for more engagements in the future.

Prophecy’s new Certified Surgical Technologist / Scrub Tech assessments made headlines!

Originally released on December 1, 2011, the CST assessments were developed using Prophecy’s extensive validation process.  Clients were pleased to see another one of their requested assessments delivered into their Prophecy accounts – just in time for the holiday season!

In other news, Prophecy’s Clinical Team projected an updated dysrhythmia interpretation exam to be released in early 2012.  The release of the new dysrhythmia interpretation assessment will include an assessment of the test taker’s ability to accurately measure the ECG tracings on the cardiac strips, in addition to assessing their ability to accurately interpret the cardiac rhythm.  The assessment will cover Sinus rhythms, Atrial rhythms, Ventricular rhythms, Paced rhythms, Junctional rhythms, and Heart blocks.

Based upon client feedback, Prophecy foresees these assessments being particularly helpful for nursing educators when developing educational plans for their nursing staff, based upon the test results of each individual.

Check out the full release here.

Prophecy’s Clinical Team has come through right on schedule! Clients now have access to the 2012 Core Mandatories and NPSG’s from the “Send Exams” screen.

So, here is a synopsis of the 2012 Core releases:

• 2012 Core Mandatory Part I: exams that are aligned to meet all Federal Regulatory Agency Requirements such as OSHA and CDC.
• 2012 Core Mandatory Part II: correlates with each discipline to meet all Joint Commission requirements.
• 2012 Core Mandatory Part III: for your convenience to meet any possible contractual or facility specific requirements.
• 2012 NPSG’s: for Nursing, Allied, & Non-licensed Personnel

Exams now available on the Mandatory section of the exam list:

2012 Core Mandatory Part I (for all disciplines) includes:

• Body Mechanics/Ergonomics
• Emergency Management Preparedness
• Environmental Safety
• Fire Safety
• Hazardous Chemicals
• HIPAA
• Infection Control/Blood Borne Pathogens

2012 Core Mandatory Part II (Nursing) includes:

• Age Specific
• Cultural Diversity
• Ethics for Healthcare
• 2012 National Patient Safety Goals (Nursing)
• Patient Rights

2012 Core Mandatory Part II (Allied) includes:

• Age Specific
• Cultural Diversity
• Ethics for Healthcare
• 2012 National Patient Safety Goals (Allied)
• Patient Rights

2012 Core Mandatory Part II (Non-Licensed Personnel) includes:

• Age Specific
• Cultural Diversity
• Ethics for Healthcare
• 2012 National Patient Safety Goals (Non-Licensed)
• Patient Rights

2012 Core Part III includes:

• Abuse
• Advanced Care Planning
• Domestic Violence
• Pain Management
• Patient Restraints
• Sexual Harassment
• Workplace Violence

To continue in assisting clients with their testing needs, we have released the 2012 NPSG exams specific for Nursing, Allied, and Non-Licensed Personnel. The following exams are now available and located in the Mandatory section of the exam list:

• 2012 NPSG (Nursing) – includes RN’s and LPN’s
• 2012 NPSG (Allied) – includes PT, OT, ORT, Radiology, Certified Medication Aides, CNA’s (licensed by state) and other Allied personnel that retain licensure.
• 2012 NPSG (Non-Licensed Personnel) – includes CNA’s (non-licensed by state), HHA’s, sitters and all other Non-Licensed Personnel.

We hope that these changes will assist our clients in their continued success for 2012!

The Prophecy Crew will be spending extra time with family and friends over the next two weeks!

Closed Friday, December 23, 2011
&
Closed Friday, December 30, 2011

Please look for any responses to voice messages and emails when we
return to the office each respective Monday.

The Prophecy Team wishes everyone a wonderful holiday season.

We hope everyone enjoys relaxing holiday vacations that
recharge your batteries for a fantastic start to 2012!

Welcome to Part 4 of a 5-part series devoted to dissecting the Joint Commission Healthcare Staffing Services Certification Leadership Standards.  Let’s jump right in and talk about accessibility and complaints.

HSLD.6 – Accessibility

Going above and beyond the call of duty – you must be accessible to your clients and employees both during business hours and after business hours in the case of an emergency.  Here are some popular ways to make this happen:

• hire an answering service
• utilize a call center
• rotate an on-call cell phone
• appoint an on-call employee calendar

JC will test whatever system you decide to use during your review!   Something else easy to comply with, but sometimes overlooked, is communicating your business hours and how to reach you in an emergency to both clients and employees:

• Include in Client Contract
• Post on Website
• Add to Employee Handbook
• Communicate to Clients Yearly with Updated Contact Information

HSLD.7 – Addressing Complaints

Don’t shy away from the topic of complaints.  As hard as you might try, you won’t be able to please everyone.  When complaints arise – either internally with employees or externally with clients – have a formal written complaint management process.  I suggest that you create a Complaint Management form, so you can document the complaint, investigation and resolution.  You will also be required to maintain a complaint log (as simple as an Excel spreadsheet) so you can track and trend your complaints.

The JC reviewer will ask to see a blinded copy of your complaint log (hiding those names to protect the innocent – or guilty in this case!).  You will also need to communicate your complaint process to both your clients and employees.  Again this can be accomplished through your contract, mailing to your clients, employee handbook, etc.  One of the questions that they will discuss with your employees and your clients is who at the agency should be contacted if they have a complaint. The final step in the complaint management process is a clinical representative following-up on any clinical complaints from your clients or employees.

I hope the fourth part in this series provided you with some insights into HSLD 6 & 7. Look for the final part in the series to discuss HCSS 8 & 9 in the next few weeks.

Check out previous sections of the JCHCSS Leadership Standards Made Easy series:

• Part 1 summarized the Leadership Standards and your leadership team’s responsibilities.
• Part 2 touched on the code of ethics and conflicts of interest.
• Part 3 discussed complying with business laws & defining the service provided to customers

And, please list any comments/questions below that you might have regarding the Leadership Standard or JCHCSS Certification in general.

Yesterday’s article in Hospital Impact titled  3 Ways Patient Experience Affects the Bottom Line by Jason Wolf, exclaims that commitment to experience should be a fundamental component of hospital care.  Highlighting three varying perspectives:

• Financial
• Marketing
• Clinical

Wolf details cases where an increase in profitability stems from improving patient satisfaction.  Given the direct correlation between the two, hospitals looking to increase their bottom line (namely all) need to find ways to raise the standard of care across every department.

In the clinical perspective discussion, HCAHPS scores on two questions “How do you rate the hospital overall?” and “Would you recommend the hospital to friends and family?” proved reliable indicators and even more predictable of re-admissions than quality indicators.

So, each patient that leaves the hospital feeling compelled to recommend the facility increases the probability of future admissions.  Word of mouth advertising, whether positive or negative, comes free of charge.  Turning your hospital’s walking billboards into positive referrals starts with each interaction shared between employees and their patients.

Definitely a thought-provoking read we recommend to our subscribers.

And, see what some of our clients have said about how Prophecy’s online screening system has strengthened their ability to higher top quality nurses  by taking the guess work out of the hiring process.

Prophecy Healthcare is pleased to announce the release of new clinical assessments to assist in the competency testing of certified surgical technologists, or as commonly known, “scrub techs.” This exam, offered in two different versions, are now available to be sent by your team members via the “Send Exams” screen.

• Certified Surgical Technologist/Scrub Tech Exam_A
• Certified Surgical Technologist/Scrub Tech Exam_B

These exams cover several knowledge domains specifically for the certified surgical technologist/scrub tech including, but not limited to, pre-operative preparation, intra-operative procedures, post-operative procedures, equipment sterilization and maintenance, microbiology, anatomy and physiology, and surgical pharmacology.

In addition, we will release two new Skills Checklists:

• Certified Surgical Technologist/Scrub Tech Skills Checklist
• Utilization Review Skills Checklist

Implementation Guidelines:

The Certified Surgical Technologist/Scrub Tech exam(s) and Skills Checklist should be sent to all applicants working in this capacity in the OR setting.

*** This exam will replace the current OR/Surgical Technologist exam.  Only one version needs to be sent initially (A or B) and if a clinician fails the first attempt at the assessment, you have the option of sending the parallel form (or other verision).  For more on parallel forms, check out the section titled “Form A and Form B – Parallel Form Development” in this blog article.

The Utilization Review Skills Checklist is for persons who will function in the UR role and is designed for settings such as, Skilled Nursing Facility, Home Health, Rehab. Units, Outpatient, Clinic and Insurance.

Development:

Our new Certified Surgical Technologist/Scrub Tech assessments were developed by conducting a formal job analysis and test plan development workshop with a panel of subject matter experts with over 130 years of combined experience in this specialty, from a health system in Dallas, Texas.

***Clients who have the old OR/Surgical Technologist exam included in Exam Profiles will need to change their profiles to include the new Certified Surgical Technologist/Scrub Tech.

Your profiles can be modified by following a few simple steps.  For step-by-step assistance, check out the training video- “Creating Profiles”.

Please remember that only Admins have access to modifying exam profiles.

Please let us know if we can be of any assistance with communicating the implementation of these assessments with your team members.  As always, we are happy to help!