Providing quality training for current and future Health Services employees is a priority. The goal is to provide new and continuing education and training opportunities for those that work in the healthcare field. Affordability and convenience are two key features of this service provided by Northwest Technology Center to its community healthcare partners. These partners include: hospitals and nursing homes, as well as direct care or clerical staff in medical, dental, optometric and chiropractic offices.

For more information on Business and Industry Health Services, contact the Alva Campus at 580.327.0344 or the Fairview Campus at 580.227.3708.

Beadles Nursing Home Benefits From NWTC Training

More than 30 Beadles Nursing Home employees have received additional career training in the past weeks thanks to a new partnership with Northwest Technology Center (NWTC).

Tammy Mustard, Business and Industry Services Health Trainer at NWTC, has directed five sessions of Clint Maun training at Beadles since the beginning of the year, and will conduct seven more sessions in the coming months.

Clint Maun is a Certified Speaking Professional nationally recognized for his innovative leadership in healthcare consulting, speaking and research. Since 1984, he has concentrated on innovative ideas and techniques to improve the "people business" of the healthcare profession.

Mustard says focusing on the “people business” or customer service aspect of healthcare is very important, particularly in long-term care facilities such as Beadles.

“This training is very customer service oriented,” Mustard said. “Employees learn skills that allow them to provide better customer service not only to residents, but to their families as well.”

Training topics thus far have ranged from being a ‘Prepared Professional’ to lessons answering the question ‘Who are our customers?’ After each session employees are given different assignments to further their understanding of the training. In one assignment, employees created their own name badges they now wear while working. In another, they developed and designed advertisements for Beadles--the best of which appeared in the Alva Review Courier.

Mustard says projects like creating name badges and nursing home advertisements has significantly improved employee performance and attitude, particularly in how employees feel about themselves, the services they provide daily, and the nursing home itself.

Beadles Administrator Emma Jordan echoed those sentiments highlighting the fact that her employee turnover rate has dropped dramatically since the beginning of the Clint Maun training. A business with a turnover rate once as high as 40% to 60% has had just a single employee leave in the past two months.

Having pride in themselves and their work is one thing Mustard stresses in her training, and she says that Beadles employees have responded well.

"I've seen and heard many good points on how the staff polices itself, promotes the home, and has taken ownership," Mustard said.

The entire Beadles staff has taken advantage of the training opportunity.

"We've been very pleased with the turnout," Mustard said. "We usually have 30 to 40 employees at each training session, and that includes all areas of the staff, from nursing, to dietary, to administration.

EMS Consortium Trains Workers In Northwest Oklahoma

Did you know that healthcare workers and emergency medical service technicians are in short supply in Northwest Oklahoma? This is a scary statistic when considering who will provide care when an accident or illness happens.

The Northwest EMS Consortium is a cooperative effort between Northwest Technology Center , High Plains Technology Center and Chisholm Trail Technology Center . Students who are interested in a career in Emergency Medical Services and who are certified Basic EMT's can enroll in the Intermediate and Paramedic training programs free of charge. The program is funded by a health services grant from the Oklahoma Department of CareerTech.

Since its inception last October, the group has trained ten Basic EMT's, six Intermediate EMT's and is currently training eleven Paramedics. Phil Ester, EMS Program Coordinator travels between the three schools.

“One really exciting aspect of our training is the Emergency Vehicle Operation Course (EVOC). We do training and certification and every EMT and Paramedic has to the EVOC certification every two years. We had fifteen enrolled in this class last spring.

In this course, you learn to drive the vehicle and we practice treatments while moving. We also practice training scenarios and patient situations using our training ambulance,” continued Ester.

For more information on the Northwest EMS Consortium or to find out more about the training provided, contact Phil Ester at 580.571.6070 or via e-mail at philester@hptc.net .