Travelers and Competency timing
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How do you handle timing of competencies for travelers who perform moderately complex testing?
Our ECMO program uses an agency when needed. These are RNs or RTs. They all come in when new to Children's for onboarding/training of all things, including ACT testing. The issue comes when it's time for their 6 month and/or 1 year competency. These travelers may get trained and then literally not be back for a shift for 8 months. And that might be 1 shift on a Saturday night and there is little notice (even to the nursing manager) of who is being sent and when they might arrive in town. If it's been 8 months, my system has removed their access and locked them out for not completing competency on time. Same at the 1 year mark.
We are trying to clean up the tracking for this group so for most of them, I've said they have to start over as a trainee if they ever come again. ECMO management is confused of course because they don't fully understand the competency requirements. I can't call something a 6 month competency if they were trained 10 months ago and haven't been here since. Do any of you have a time frame for someone who's competency expires before you make them start all over? If it's lapsed by 2 months do you just make up the competency? I'm really not sure how to make this work for us. Thank you!
Our ECMO program uses an agency when needed. These are RNs or RTs. They all come in when new to Children's for onboarding/training of all things, including ACT testing. The issue comes when it's time for their 6 month and/or 1 year competency. These travelers may get trained and then literally not be back for a shift for 8 months. And that might be 1 shift on a Saturday night and there is little notice (even to the nursing manager) of who is being sent and when they might arrive in town. If it's been 8 months, my system has removed their access and locked them out for not completing competency on time. Same at the 1 year mark.
We are trying to clean up the tracking for this group so for most of them, I've said they have to start over as a trainee if they ever come again. ECMO management is confused of course because they don't fully understand the competency requirements. I can't call something a 6 month competency if they were trained 10 months ago and haven't been here since. Do any of you have a time frame for someone who's competency expires before you make them start all over? If it's lapsed by 2 months do you just make up the competency? I'm really not sure how to make this work for us. Thank you!
3 Replies
Ah, the complexities that traveling staff have brought to us, no? Here's my thought - CAP POC.06915 states that first assessment (what we typically call "6-month assessment") must be done within 7 months of start of testing, and the second no later than 12 months. If you declare that the date they are trained as their start date, why not perform competency assessment on them that day, while you have them on site? There is nothing in the standard prohibiting doing it too 'soon' - only too late (after 7 months). As long as you do second assessment by no more than 12 months after start date, you should be seen as compliant. That at least buys you some time, and chances are they may not even be still under contract after a year, when they are due for 2nd assessment.
We, thankfully, do not allow traveling staff to perform non-waived testing. Since they will never be on the wards alone, our permanent (trained and competent) staff is responsible for stepping in and doing ACTs when necessary.
I think many institutions adopted a similar policy regarding non-waived testing and traveler staff (not allowing them to do it) but I think that is becoming increasingly difficult as using travelers became such a common occurrence during the pandemic. Unfortunately for some hospitals it doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon and there's inevitably going to be a need to find a middle ground.
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