September 22, 2015

The 2015 Annual Required Training (ART) course is live in HealthStream through Wednesday, September 30. All employees, contractors, volunteers, etc. will have until September 30, or earlier at the discretion of their leader, to complete the course to satisfy ART requirements. The completion goal is 100 percent across the organization.

What is the purpose of ART?

Joint Commission and OSHA require that staff renew their knowledge on an annual basis regarding key components such as: Patient Safety, Bloodborne Pathogens, Hand Hygiene, Diversity and several other important topics. Texas Children’s, in keeping with HIPAA guidelines, also requires staff to review their knowledge regarding Privacy, Compliance, and Information Security to ensure that Texas Children’s continues to sustain a safe and ethical environment in which to work and receive care.

Who is exempt from ART?

All workforce members are required to complete ART except for:

  • Texas Children’s new employees (including Texas Children’s physicians) who were hired after January 1, 2015.
  • Physicians, residents, fellows, dentists, podiatrists and licensed Ph.D. Psychologists not employed by Texas Children’s.

Current completion percentages

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To access the course follow the steps below:

  1. Click on the ‘Annual Required Training / HealthStream’ link on the Connect homepage under the ‘Quick Links’ heading.
  2. Log-in to HealthStream.
  3. Click on the ‘Continue’ box.
  4. Click on the ‘My Learning’ tab.
  5. Find and click on the course title:
    1. TCH 2015 Annual Required Training
    2. TCP 2015 Annual Required Training
  6. There are three learning activities that must be completed: online module, test, acknowledgement. Click the first activity listed to start the online course.
  7. Click on the ‘Launch the Course’ link to start the online module.
February 3, 2015

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It’s a typical scene out of a movie. An individual falls to the ground suffering medical complications and a healthcare professional runs to the rescue to perform Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and other basic lifesaving techniques. There seems to be a public expectation for medical professionals to know these skills, yet without practice and the right knowledge of the latest guidelines, it’s difficult to expect anyone to have the best knowledge for performing the safest techniques.

That’s where the American Heart Association (AHA) Basic Life Support (BLS) course comes into play at Texas Children’s. A hospital-wide initiative aims to provide this training and certification for all direct caregivers.

“The course teaches the skills to recognize, assess patients and respond accordingly,” said Gemma Elegores, Clinical Training and Development Education Specialist and AHA Program Director. The BLS course is designed to teach the critical basic life safety skills that each and every healthcare provider should have.

“Having more people competent in Basic Life Support allows for a quicker response time and initiation of life-saving care,” said Dr. David Young, Pediatric Anesthesiologist and AHA Medical Director. “All of the trained healthcare providers can also serve the community by acting as first responders to life-threatening events until arrival of designated personnel.”

While the expectation might be for everyone to know these basic skills, Young said the skills are not often being practiced, making it challenging to recall and perform all the correct steps during an emergency.

“Scientific studies have shown significant decay in performance among health care providers regarding life support knowledge and procedural skills including the concepts within Basic Life Support,” Young said. “An effective approach to mitigate this decay is to develop regularly scheduled re-training periods such as the approach taken at Texas Children’s Hospital.”

After completing the courses, participants receive certification from the American Heart Association (AHA) for 2 years. AHA guidelines change every 5 years, but the course is always updated with the most current recommendations.

September 3, 2014

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The 2014 Annual Required Training (ART) course will be live in Decision Critical from Tuesday, September 2, to Tuesday, September 30. All employees, contractors, volunteers, etc. will have until September 30, or earlier at the discretion of their leader, to complete the course to satisfy ART requirements. The completion goal is 100 percent across the organization.

This year, in an effort to simplify the process for employees, the ART course and test have been combined. What this means is that in order to receive credit for ART, you must first review the course slides and complete the module quizzes before advancing to the Acknowledgements section. There will not be a separately graded test this year as in previous years. Your completion of the Acknowledgements section will be your official record of completion.

What is the purpose of ART?
Joint Commission and OSHA require that staff renew their knowledge on an annual basis regarding key components such as: Patient Safety, Bloodborne Pathogens, Hand Hygiene, Diversity and several other important topics. Texas Children’s, in keeping with HIPAA guidelines, also requires staff to review their knowledge regarding Privacy, Compliance, and Information Security to ensure that Texas Children’s continues to sustain a safe and ethical environment in which to work and receive care.

Who is exempt from ART?

All workforce members are required to complete ART except for:

  • Texas Children’s new employees (including Texas Children’s physicians) who were hired after January 1, 2014.
  • Physicians, residents, fellows, dentists, podiatrists and licensed Ph.D. Psychologists not employed by Texas Children’s.

To access the course follow the steps below:

  1. Click on the ‘Annual Required Training / Decision Critical’ link on the Connect homepage under the ‘Quick Links’ heading.
  2. Log-in to Decision Critical.
  3. Click on the ‘Continue’ box.
  4. Click on ‘My Training Plan’.
  5. Find the course title:
    • 2014 Annual Required Training
  6. Click on the ‘Online Course’ link to launch the course.