ED Sister’s simple educational tool, “The QR Bar”, is a viral hit!
Emergency Department Sister and Clinical Educator, Leanne Siekiera, has had global interest from a simple QR Code Board she set up to help benefit staff in the QHB Emergency Department get easy access to guidelines, policies and educational tools.
Leanne said: “The board all came about to help benefit the Newly Qualified Nurses and new starters that were starting work in the Emergency Department.
“Trying to access guidelines and policies on a computer when you don’t have much time can be hard as you really have to sit down and take the time to look for what you need, whereas this simple board which we have placed outside resus is really easy for staff to scan and get access to what they need when they get a spare two minutes.
“I spoke with the staff and asked what policies and guidelines they would like quick and easy access to and used their suggestions to make the decision on which of the links would be added to the “QR Bar”. It’s good practice, especially for our new starters to always be reading up on any changes that may have happened to guidelines and policies. It’s really quick to do and most of us have smartphones nowadays and know how to use a QR code, so it has been a really simple but effective addition in the department.”
Leanne tweeted about the QR Bar and the benefits that it had to the department, what she didn’t realise was how popular it would be with healthcare staff globally – with the tweet receiving over four thousand likes and interest in the board coming from as far as Italy and America.
Leanne said: “Feedback has been really positive from staff within the department – its saving us time and allowing us to get quick chances to brush up on our knowledge. When I shared the picture on Twitter, I really didn’t think that it would be that well received – I couldn’t believe it when I kept seeing the numbers of likes and retweets growing and growing.
“If you’re thinking about implementing something like this in your ward or department, I’d say go for it! We’ve had such positive feedback within ED, it doesn’t take long to get what we need and I really do believe that something so simple but effective will help us provide even better care to our patients.”