CNS/Educator SIG Update

The PCICS CNS/Educator SIG continues to provide an opportunity for networking and a forum for sharing perspectives and information among Clinical Nurse Specialists and educators across the PCICS community. This January the CNS/Educator SIG welcomed two new co-chairs, Lisa McCabe and Trish Lincoln, who will co-lead the CNS/Educator SIG along with Angela Jardin, to achieve its 2021 goals. Many thanks to Justine Fortkiewicz for co-leading the SIG over these past few years. Membership of the CNS/Educator SIG includes nurses from institutions throughout the country and we hope to increase national and international membership over the next year.  The current 2021 SIG goals include:

• Collaborate with pediatric cardiac ICU/acute care clinical and education leaders nationally and internationally to share effective methods to promote excellence in continuing education, onboarding, and preceptor development
• Provide strategies to assist clinical and education leaders to support nurses caring for patients at the bedside
• Develop, initiate, and evaluate the effectiveness of new and current evidence-based practice changes in the pediatric cardiac ICU/acute care unit
• Provide strategies for the recruitment and retention of cardiac ICU/acute care nursing staff

The activities to achieve these goals include:

• Development, testing, operationalization, and evaluation of a simulation program for bedside nurses
• Development, utilization, and evaluation of a bedside procedure/guideline manual
• Development, utilization, and evaluation of a pre-and post- curriculum assessment
• Creation and piloting of a preceptor development and survival guide
• Definition and implementation of strategies for retention and recruitment of cardiac ICU/acute care nursing staff
• Participation in the development of PCICS podcast/webinars

Additionally, some specific projects the group has recently completed or is currently involved in are

• Administration and analysis of a preceptor survey (50% response rate) through C4-MNP which demonstrated the current state of practice was satisfactory
• Development of an RN Guidelines and Procedure manual
• Familiarization with the use of BaseCamp as a platform for communication and education

Meetings, in a virtual format, occur each month, rotating between Monday and Thursday to accommodate different staff schedules. Each meeting includes a short center overview with CNS/Educator role descriptions from that institution. Also, there is reserved time for member-initiated/requested discussion of hot topics representing challenges in all areas of education in pediatric cardiac ICU/acute care cardiac units. For further information, to join the next meeting, or to join the CNS/Educator SIG,  please contact Angela Jarden.