PERT Program

Tip of the Month: January 2004


PUTTING PERT INTO PRACTICE: USING YOUR NEW KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS


It's the beginning of the year, and for many of us a new year means making fresh commitments. These resolutions come in many forms: perhaps you intend to take a class, or go on a long awaited vacation. Maybe this is the year you plan to find more balance between work and family obligations. It's exciting to anticipate the newness of the calendar year, and choose the activities upon which you want to focus renewed energy.

Participants from Cohort 3 recently completed the classroom portion of PERT training. In the final class we asked each individual to identify one or two workplace goals he or she would like to achieve in the upcoming weeks and months. Participants were encouraged to keep their commitments brief and realistic. The responses were inspiring! We would like to share a few of these stated goals or "resolutions" as a means of stimulating ideas for your own professional commitments. (For a complete listing of the pledges, go to the Results and Reactions section of this website.)
  • I will organize at least one in-service on EOL care in my facility in the next three months.

  • I would like to come up with a kit for non-drug therapies like we learned in our NAC class. I would like it to be accessible for fellow NACs on my unit, teach them how to use it, and the importance of it. As NACs we often feel as if we don't spend as much time as we should with hospice patients and this would allow us to do so. It would also allow us to feel like we (NACs) physically aided in pain management

  • I will re-institute the "ethics committee;" I will provide for LPNs a morphine in-service as part of pain management; I am going to promote a "pain committee" of all participants in attendance, to review all residents requiring Schedule II and III meds for "pain management" adequacy.

  • I am an MDS/Admissions Nurse who writes care plans for over 50% of our residents. I commit to integrating information I've learned through PERT into my new care plans and as I revise my care plans quarterly. (Especially regarding pain at the end of life and/or hospice care.)

  • I will work with my fellow class members to set up an in-service about cultural differences at the end of life, and help facilitate the in-service

  • I will commit to reviewing the PERT website weekly to monthly with the DNS to further our education so we together as a team can provide better education to our staff and to provide better care to our residents at the end of life


As you see in the examples above, many participants are committed to sharing their knowledge with someone else through in-services or collaboration on committees. Adult learning theory states that an individual will retain 70% of new information when they are required to say it, for instance by giving a talk or in-service. Retention of new information increases to 90% when the individual both says and does, for example by creating the non-drug kit and teaching others how to use it.1 Building upon previous knowledge will also solidify your understanding of new material. Regular visits to the PERT website can provide you with more in-depth materials on previously studied topics, or perhaps suggest new topics and resources that will be pertinent to experiences you are currently facing in your facility.

We would love to hear from other PERT participants. What are your professional commitments for this year related to care of the dying? Send your thoughts to the PERT Program. We'll add them to the website to share with the ever-expanding PERT team.



 Reference

1. Nichols FH, Humenick SS. Childbirth Education: Practice, Research and Theory. WB Saunders; 2000