National magazine ranks Christiana Care among nation’s best training organizations

National magazine ranks Christiana Care among nation’s best training organizations

Celebrating Christiana Care's recognition as a Top 125 training organization by Training magazine at Training annual event: Tamekia Thomas, Critical Care education coordinator; Robert Dressler, M.D., vice chair of the Department of Medicine, Loretta Consiglio Ward, Safety & Quality education specialist; Carys Price, director of Employee Injury Prevention/PEEPS Program; Lonie Sculley, Information Technology; Rosa Colon, Ph.D., senior vice president, System Learning, and chief diversity officer, Jerry Brannen, senior education specialist, System Learning, Michelle Collins, manager, Nursing Professional Development; Corrine M. O’Brien, M.D., Emergency Medicine; and Christine Sowinski, medical student liaison, Academic Affairs.
Celebrating Christiana Care's recognition as a Top 125 training organization by Training magazine at Training annual event: Tamekia Thomas, Critical Care education coordinator; Robert Dressler, M.D., vice chair of the Department of Medicine, Loretta Consiglio Ward, Safety & Quality education specialist; Carys Price, director of Employee Injury Prevention/PEEPS Program; Lonie Sculley, Information Technology; Rosa Colon, Ph.D., senior vice president, System Learning, and chief diversity officer, Jerry Brannen, senior education specialist, System Learning, Michelle Collins, manager, Nursing Professional Development; Karina O’Brien, Operational Excelence; and Christine Sowinski, medical student liaison, Academic Affairs.

As a training institution, Christiana Care Health System ranks No. 60 among the Top 125 organizations by Minneapolis-based Training professional development magazine.

The magazine for training, human resources and business management professionals ranks the top 125 training organizations in the country across all industries using quantitative/qualitative criteria apportioned at 70 percent/30 percent, respectively. Christiana Care landed on the list for the first time this month.

The recognition from Training reflects Christiana Care’s commitment to learning and development and our organization’s culture of learning, says Rosa Colon, Ph.D., senior vice president, System Learning, and chief diversity officer.

“We decided traditional training functions, with their emphasis on data collection, classroom work and didactic orientation, are unlikely to help us to develop ourselves as a true ‘learning organization,’” explains Dr. Colon. “By focusing instead on helping our colleagues learn about themselves, their strengths and capabilities, and developing better ways to deliver care, training helps fulfill our mission of assisting the people we serve.”

In 2011, the systemwide Learning and Education Council, chaired by Dr. Colon, designed the Christiana Care Health System Learning Institute and launched a three-year strategic plan to integrate all common learning processes and support services into one easily accessible system.

“This virtual institute helps coordinate thousands of hours of continuing education and community, wellness and patient education offered by Christiana Care that reaches thousands of people every year,” Dr. Colon says. “It focuses on educator development, innovation, continuous professional education, diversity and inclusion, transforming leadership, employee development and patient education. We have moved from traditional employee ‘training,’ which focuses on tactics, content and individual development, to ‘learner-centered’ education, fostering innovation and leveraging technology to enable a learning environment where employees take personal responsibility for learning.”

Continuous learning, quality improvement and career development, paired with a spirit of inquiry and learning, are goals that become embedded in the daily work of all employees,” Dr. Colon says, adding: “The Institute’s offerings address key Christiana Care needs; contribute to the well-being, satisfaction and motivation of staff; and cultivate robust educational partnerships and affiliations with other organizations.”

Quantitative and qualitative criteria

Here’s a look at Training’s evaluation process, using quantitative/qualitative criteria apportioned at 70 percent/30 percent, respectively.

On the quantitative side, an outside research company scores the application on five different sections, including:

  • Training program/scope (25 percent).
  • Evaluation/metrics (25 percent).
  • Human resources (20 percent).
  • Training infrastructure and delivery (20 percent).
  • Tuition reimbursement (10  percent).

On the qualitative side, Training judges look for:

  • Demonstrable results.
  • Progress of programs.
  • Innovation.
  • Success factors.
  • Training strategically linked to business goals.
  • Corporate commitment to training.
  • Potential applicability of best practices companywide and to other organizations and industries.
  • Ingenuity of outstanding initiatives (usually a fairly new program that hasn’t had a chance to demonstrate long-term results) and their potential to become best practices.

The qualitative score also depends on how well an organization demonstrates training’s part in achieving corporate strategic goals.

A group of Christiana Care employees attended Training’s annual event in Atlanta Feb. 14 to network with other organizations and to receive the award and recognition.

“Attending the Top 125 event and talking to people from other organizations helped us recognize the great work in learning that we’re doing here,” says Tamekia Thomas, Critical Care education coordinator. “There are many things we are doing that other employers aren’t, which shows how much motivation we have to develop our employees.”

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