High Point, NC, – August 30, 2008 – Amistaff Healthcare Technology and Biddle Consulting Group have entered into an Exclusive Joint Partnership Agreement for the development of Encounter-Nursing Situational-Judgment Tests. Biddle’s ENCOUNTER Video Situational Testing Software was designed by Industrial / Organizational Psychologists using real world scenarios that are likely to happen in your own work environment. ENCOUNTER-NURSING Video Situational Testing Software gives healthcare organizations a picture of how an applicant is likely to respond. An applicant’s responses are measured against responses deemed by healthcare professionals, just like you, to be the most effective and least effective responses for a given situation.

“We are excited about this new partnership with Biddle Consulting Group, the leaders in Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Affirmative Action (AA), and Personnel Selection consulting and software. Their leadership in the test validation and assessment development market will assist us in providing analytics, metrics and benchmarks to our clients. Biddle’s involvement will also insure that video based nursing content will remain valid and reliable.

Encounter-Nursing Software will be comprised of the following competency domains:

1. Interpersonal/Social Skills and Conflict Resolution
2. Teamwork/Working with Others
3. Interpersonal / Team-Working Ability while Managing Workloads
4. Critical Thinking/Decision Making
5. Prioritization

This technology will surpass any existing VHS/DVD based technology that requires nurses/candidates to write their answers in essay format. Encounter-Nursing will be:

1. Available 24/7 anytime, anywhere
2. Completely objective
3. Responsive – Providing instant results
4. Accurate – Removing any possibility of bias or error during the scoring process

Encounter-Nursing will be in a league of its own when compared to current systems which can take up to 5 days to score assessments and rely on raters or evaluators to analyze/score results. “This type of rating or evaluation allows for subjective interpretations, which could result in inaccurate scoring of candidate responses,” says Ron Gonzalez, CEO of Amistaff Healthcare Technology and NurseTesting.com.

James Ostmann, Chief Nursing Officer for Amistaff Healthcare Technology and NurseTesting.com states: “This joint partnership will revolutionize the healthcare industry. The addition of the Encounter-Nursing Software will add a dynamic level of competency screening to the Healthcare industry. NurseTesting is the market leader in competency testing for healthcare staffing firms and hospitals nationwide. NurseTesting’s Nationally Validated Content is unmatched in the marketplace. NurseTesting’s job knowledge exams coupled with Encounter-Nursing will give a more concise, valid, and reliable assessment of each candidate being considered within the Healthcare organization. Encounter Nursing will be developed using the same content validation process, which meets or exceeds the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures outlined by the Department of Labor. Encounter-Nursing will be built by convening high-level SME panels to develop core competencies to be targeted by Encounter-Nursing. Leveraging NurseTesting’s job analysis work over the past year will streamline the identification of key areas for critical incident development. Healthcare organizations will now have streamlined, objective, valid, and reliable tools enabling them to hire the best clinician for the job which translates into providing a higher quality of care to the patients.”

About Amistaff Healthcare Technology: Amistaff Healthcare Technology was founded in 2004 as a healthcare staffing solutions provider. Amistaff creates products and services that help healthcare staffing firms and hospitals improve recruitment, retention and placement of caregivers. Amistaff includes a team of IT professionals, RN’s and former recruiters; this allows Amistaff to base their products on an in-depth understanding of each client’s unique staffing requirements. All of the Amistaff products are web-based solutions designed to simplify workflows and increase efficiency. Visit www.amistaff.com for additional information.

About Biddle Consulting Group, Inc: The Biddle Consulting Group, Inc. has worked as pioneers in the field of EEO and Affirmative Action since 1974. The founder, Richard Biddle, was involved in the development of the California Fair Employment Practices Guidelines—precursor to the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (i.e., Uniform Guidelines). He is still fully involved in the company today. Daniel Biddle, Ph.D., President of Biddle Consulting Group and Firefighter Selection Inc., has over 15 years of experience in the fields of EEO and Affirmative Action and a doctorate in Organization Psychology.

Aside from developing thousands of AAPs, BCG consultants have provided expert testimony in over 150 employment and discrimination-related cases (with a 92% success rate in cases that go to court) and have provided Risk Management services for hundreds of other employers as well. BCG was the first company to develop comprehensive Affirmative Action Plan Development Software (i.e., Biddle & Associates Module C), and Biddle Consulting Group continues to be a pioneer in the field of EEO/HR.

Consider these points when choosing a competency exam provider:

• Be careful of companies that claim National Validation, yet have NO DATA to back it up.
• Be careful of companies that offer clinical exams, yet do NOT have a Nurse or Clinician on staff. How committed could they be to keeping content current?
• According to some company’s marketing material for competency testing, “there are no additional fees”. Remember the old saying, “you get what you pay for”.
• When making a decision on a testing and competency company, choose the company that lives and breathes testing. NurseTesting.com has been in the competency testing business for over 5 years and was created by an RN with the mission of providing the best and most current exam material in the industry. NurseTesting.com has 3 Full-Time Mastered Prepared Nurses on Staff.

What does it mean to have Nationally Validated Exams?

• There are two levels of Validation.
  • First, exams are vetted by clinicians across the nation, to verify that the exams are accurate and relevant. This means that an exam that is appropriate for a provider in California also is appropriate in North Carolina.
  • The second and most reliable level requires a thorough, panel-driven Guidelines Oriented Job Analysis (GOJA) coupled with a Test Validation and Analysis Program (TVAP). The panel of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), each active in the practice for which the exam is targeted, provide statistically sound verification that each question and answer is relevant, accurate, transportable, and non-biased. This process validates the exam within the guidelines set by the Federal Uniform Guidelines on Selection Procedures.

The Federal Uniform Guidelines on Selection Procedures provides several advantages:

• Comprehensive Job analysis Report:

  This report allows clients to view the demographics and experience of the panel of SMEs, as well as the content and expertise required and often includes over 100 pages of data and reporting including:

  • Required Job Duties
  • Required knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs)
  • Importance and frequency ratings for job duties and KSAs
  • Information linking KSAs with the appropriate job duties

• Comprehensive Test Plan:

  This plan includes all test questions and answers developed, comprehensive SME ratings and surveys, and a comprehensive detailed statistical analysis of the body of test items. This test plan includes detailed statistics addressing possible Adverse Impact for each item and the exam entire. This Test Plan integrates with the Job Analysis Report by linking individual test questions with validated Job Duties and KSAs.

• Defensibility under EEOC Title VII:

  The GOJA and TVAP process and its results, demonstrate that a given exam provides valid, reliable and defensible content, and therefore can be used as part of the hiring process.

Each step of the content validation study is a time consuming, labor intensive process and cannot be rushed or modified. Only adequately trained facilitators can effectively and efficiently conduct this process using the correct methodology that meets the federal guidelines. It also requires many subject matter experts for each exam topic, to ensure valid results of the GOJA and TVAP processes. NurseTesting has, for years, provided the first level of validation for the majority of our exams, including the most-used and critical exams. See our page for more information on our Nationally Validated Exams.

NurseTesting is currently applying the GOJA and TVAP processes, as guided by Biddle Consulting Group, Inc. NurseTesting is nearing completion on several of our most widely distributed critical exams. Existing exams will continue to be updated, guaranteeing NurseTesting clients the best, most accurate and useful tests in the industry.

NurseTesting provides nationally validated tests backed by on-staff clinicians, years of healthcare exam experience and data. So, when evaluating testing services, be sure to ask how each company backs up their exams. If your nurses are worth testing, aren’t your providers?

Did we leave something unanswered? Please feel free to contact our Chief Nursing Officer, Jim Ostmann, Sr.

BlueSky and Amistaff Healthcare Technology have teamed with Biddle Consulting Group, Inc., an expert in test validation and development. Dan Biddle, CEO, states:

“Validation generates two major benefits for the employer. First, validation helps insure that the selection process is measuring key, relevant job requirements in a reliable and consistent manner. Second, the validation process generates evidence (for use in litigation) that the selection procedures are … ‘job related and consistent with business necessity’. We are excited about working with Amistaff on this process.”

BlueSky has an exclusive partnership with NurseTesting.com for proficiency testing. Read more about NurseTesting’s nationally validated exams: NurseTesting’s Validation Web Page or NurseTesting Validation Brochure

What is a Clinical Advisory Board?

A Clinical Advisory Board is a group of professionals that gather to review projects. Although Clinical Advisory Boards are usually good for reviewing clinical content, unless the content undergoes a stringent validation process that adheres to Uniform Guidelines for Selection Procedures and EEOC regulations, the assessment instruments could be open to Adverse Impact.

Adverse Impact is a statistical concept that is generally used to mean there is a “substantially different passing rate” between two groups on a test or exam. This could lead to litigation by candidates, against potential employers, claiming the exams were unfair or biased.

Be sure to ask for the “validation data” or “validation study” when signing up with a company for their testing and assessment instruments.

High Point, NC, July 6th 2007 – The current nurse shortage has raised concerns over potential impact on patient care. Amistaff Healthcare Technology seeks to diminish those concerns by updating their NurseTesting.com service utilizing a new validation process never before applied to healthcare competency exams.

This validation process will give hospitals and healthcare staffing firms access to exam content linked directly to specific job functions and requirements. NurseTesting.com provides an extensive library of exams which follow standards set forth by the Joint Commission (a national healthcare standards organization). Amistaff is further refining these exams by applying a nationally recognized standard for evaluating positions through research with clinical experts in an exam’s target specialty. This validation includes a continuous evaluation cycle designed to update exams as standards of care evolve.

To supervise the implementation of this new research and revision system, Amistaff introduces new Chief Nursing Officer James Ostmann Sr. RN, MBA. He brings a diverse background to this position. Ostmann is certified as a Six Sigma Green Belt and worked for GE Healthcare for 9 years as a Clinical Specialist, Global e-Learning Program Manager, and the Upstream Service Marketing Manager for the US market. “We are confident that with the use of our newly validated exams, a more accurate assessment of healthcare professionals will be available, empowering the employer to select the best candidate for the position, thereby improving the quality of care being delivered to patients across the country,” says Ostmann.

Amistaff has teamed with Biddle Consulting Group, Inc., an expert in test validation and development. Dan Biddle, CEO, states, “Validation generates two major benefits for the employer. First, validation helps insure that the selection process is measuring key, relevant job requirements in a reliable and consistent manner. Second, the validation process generates evidence (for use in litigation) that the selection procedures are … ‘job related and consistent with business necessity’. We are excited about working with Amistaff on this process.”

Ron Gonzalez, CEO of Amistaff notes, “I am excited about bringing Jim on board to help spearhead this project. This will bring our NurseTesting.com service to a new level as we enter the hospital market and provide a higher level of service to our healthcare staffing agencies.”

CONTACT:

Ron Gonzalez, CEO
Amistaff Healthcare Technology
phone: 703.229.0203 x 202
fax: 888.411.6397
email: ron@amistaff.com
web: Amistaff.com