Webwatch: Care provider launches app-based training platform using simulated care environments
Newcross Healthcare has launched Newcross World, a new app-based training platform with simulated working environments on the healthcare provider’s established HealthForceGo app, currently used by 8,500 staff.
The new app provides a visual representation of the care and medical settings in which staff work – such as hospitals, care homes, prisons and schools – so that they can undertake relevant modular training courses.
Also launched is a new Virtual Shift for Complex Care at home. This, alongside the existing virtual shift, are both now available on Newcross World. The virtual shifts use computer gaming technology to provide immersive, interactive experiences that train nurses and carers to better assess an individual’s physical, clinical and emotional needs.
The shifts feature several scenarios, all of which are based on real life situations that have been blended to provide the best learning possible in a simulated environment.
In the complex care at home scenarios staff meet Sami, a six-year-old boy who is nervous about having his tracheostomy changed. There are also some challenging dynamics within Sami’s family which staff are trained to manage. Another shift features Kesia, a young lady who lives with a range of complex physical care needs. Enablement trips out are important for boosting Kesia’s confidence, and staff are trained how to safeguard Kesia’s wellbeing as well as meet her physical needs as they take her out to lunch.
In an establishment setting scenario, staff care for Major Bingley, who lives with dementia and resides in a care home. When Major Bingley falls against a radiator, the situation must be safely managed whilst taking into account the communication challenges Major Bingley’s dementia poses.
Michelle Gorringe, COO of Newcross Healthcare explains: “As well as testing knowledge, these shifts enable nurses and carers to learn how to make decisions in an array of situations. To provide clinical excellence, our nurses and carers are trained to meet an individual’s emotional needs as well as their physical and clinical requirements.”
Accessible anywhere, any time of night or day, Newcross World enables nurses and carers to re-appraise their existing professional skills and qualify in new areas without having to login to a desk-based computer. Greater convenience is expected to provide a significant increase in staff seeking to engage in training for different care and nursing roles. This continual professional development is expected to increase the number of care hours that staff can provide by as much as 50%.
The app also calibrates to local regulatory requirements across UK countries, as well as supporting changes in local or national needs such as those associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
