Conduct an educational technology needs assessment for your current workplace setting or another healthcare setting you are familiar with and interested in. Document the results of your needs assessment in a 2-4 page report.

Vila Health-Educational Technology Needs Assessment

Educational technology is essential in the healthcare setting. It can be applied in various contexts such as academia, completion of clinical tasks, and professional education (Tuma, 2021). Effective use of educational technology can increase healthcare providers’ knowledge and skills because it facilitates timely training and the completion of educational programs (Tuma, 2021). This paper evaluates the current educational technology used in a healthcare facility and proposes changes that can lead to better provision of healthcare services and patient outcomes.

Current Use of Educational Technology

Nurses use simulation as an educational, technological aid. Simulations are used to mimic real-time patients, human anatomy, and real-time nursing tasks (Brazil et al., 2019). By so doing, this technique has enabled the nurses to achieve various objectives. It has enabled them to integrate their curriculum into clinical practice. This is because the simulations imitate their routine and equip them with sufficient information and skills (Brazil et al., 2019). Simulations address variations in clinical cases. Each simulation deals with a unique patient case and relevant applicable interventions. This equips the nurses with diversified information and skills and increases their versatility in various units (Sofer, 2018). These simulations facilitate individual repetitive education. By so doing, nurses can accurately explain outcomes and define different benchmarks in nursing care (Sofer, 2018).

These simulations happen at the healthcare facility. They are facilitated by the director and deputy director of nursing education in collaboration with the head of the nursing department. The simulations are not conducted frequently. They are scheduled based on the availability of the facilitators of the program. This impedes the regular and continuous education of nursing staff (Brazil et al., 2019). The assumption made is that all nurses working at the healthcare facility are on duty or present at the healthcare facility during the simulations. The other assumption is that all visiting nurses from other healthcare facilities get the opportunity to learn from the simulations.

Current Educational Technology Versus Desired State

According to Benzaghta et al. (2021), SWOT analysis focuses on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the internal and external environment. This analysis can be used to compare the current and desired educational technology. Currently, the organization only offers simulations at the healthcare facility. Accordingly, this implies that all nurses must be physically present to benefit from the program. This necessity inconveniences staff members who are not on duty (Sofer, 2018). The external environment assessment reveals that other facilities use digital health and telehealth, which allows flexibility because the physical presence of nursing staff is not required. Furthermore, digital health and technology allow regular and continuous interaction and learning (Lee et al., 2018). This will likely give these external institutions a competitive advantage in training nursing staff and providing nursing services to patients (Rutledge et al., 2021).

The healthcare facility requires changes that will create flexibility in learning and allow periodic continuous professional education. Flexibility entails the ability to learn from the healthcare facility without the need for physical presence (Rutledge et al., 2021). There is a need for new technology. New educational technology that allows flexibility in the learning process, timely and continuous access to information, and prompt feedback delivery should be adopted (Rutledge et al., 2021). Notably, this will ensure that all staff access pertinent resources, improve their skills, and improve patient outcomes (Rutledge et al., 2021).

Metrics that Determine Benefits of Educational Technology

Various metrics are used to evaluate the benefits of simulation technology. The first metric is the clinician’s attendance in the simulation-facilitated educational program (Foronda et al., 2020). This is done by determining the number of clinicians present versus the expected turnout (Foronda et al., 2020). This information helps determine satisfaction levels with the technology and the training program. The second metric is training program completion time (Foronda et al., 2020). Ideally, training should be accomplished within the stipulated timeframe (Hughes, 2019). If the training takes longer than expected, it implies that the educational technology has underperformed (Hughes, 2019). This should be corrected by making relevant adjustments and evaluating the clinician’s satisfaction. The third metric is competency ass