After reading this communication piece from our Clinical Team, you will understand why the Med Surg/Tele Combo and Telemetry Exams will no longer be available within NurseTesting (as of 7/9/2010) and that your profiles must be updated to reflect the changes.

We are excited about being able to present you with new and expanded options regarding our latest releases!  This new option will affect how you currently administer Med Surg/Tele Combo and Telemetry Exams.

The current Med Surg/Tele Combo and Telemetry will be removed from your exam library effective July 9th due to the recent 2010 Exam Releases.  In order to prevent unnecessary duplication in exam administration, we want to provide information to assist you with new exam recommendations.

Cardiac Telemetry/Cardiac Step-Down Population

The 2010 Cardiac Progressive Care Exam is appropriate for determining competency for the cardiac telemetry/cardiac step-down patient population.  This population would include those patients with a primary cardiac diagnosis i.e.: chest pain/rule out MI, cardiac catheterization, post stent replacements, pacemaker, etc.

For determining competency in the Cardiac Telemetry and or cardiac step-down, it is our recommendation to administer the:

•    2010 Cardiac PCU Exam (includes Pharmacology component)
•    Dysrhythmia Exam

Med Surg/Telemetry Combo Population

The Med Surg/Telemetry Combo patient population would include patients with a secondary cardiac diagnosis. i.e.: diabetes with a history of A-fib, bowel resection with history of CHF.

For determining competency in the Med Surg/Telemetry Combo arena, it is our recommendation to administer:
 

•    2010 RN Med/Surg Form A or B
•    Dysrhythmia Exam
•    2010 RN Pharmacology

Important Reminder

Any older versions of these exams that have previously been sent to caregivers will remain in the caregiver accounts.  Caregivers will be able to complete these exams at their leisure.  And, of course, the exams that were already completed will remain in their exams for documentation!  However, you will no longer have the ability to administer the Med Surg/Tele Combo or Telemetry exams from the "Send Exams" screen***

************Many clients have the old Med Surg/Tele Combo and Telemetry exams included in Exam Profiles.  These must be changed by July 9th or an "error" message will appear for your staff members.  Only administrators can make these changes.*************

Your profiles can be modified by following a few simple steps. For step-by-step assistance, check out the training video – “Creating Profiles”

For your convenience, the “Creating Profiles” training video can also be found in your NurseTesting account under the Help tab! Remember that for the protection of your account, only admins have access to updating profiles!

Amistaff is proud to announce their launch of Prophecy^sm Health to the beta testing phase.  With facilities on board putting the assessment tools to work, collected data is allowing facilities to make a much more informed business decision on selecting the right clinician. 

So, how does this all work? 

Well, Prophecy^sm’s three web-based assessment tools – Behavioral, Clinical, and Situational – test personality, attitude, engagement characteristics, in addition to interpersonal/soft skill and clinical job knowledge competencies missed in traditional testing.  Then the three assessments work together to create the most comprehensive employment predictor for the healthcare industry.

Behavioral Assessments

Prophecy^sm Behavioral Assessments utilize personality, attitude, cognitive ability, and engagement assessments to measure a caregivers overall Behavioral characteristics. The results capture behavioral characteristics that predict high performance, such as integrity and conscientiousness.

Expected corporate benefits from using Prophecy^sm Behavioral Assessments include:

•     Dramatically reducing turnover costs
•     Decreasing turnover rates
•     Increasing productivity due to better job fit
•     Improving Employee Morale

Results from the Behavioral Assessments facilitate the identification of potential future leaders and corporate strengths within the organization.

Clinical Assessments

Prophecy^sm Clinical Assessments encompass the extensive exam library of NurseTesting.com. The comprehensive library provides testing solutions for more than just nurses. These clinical assessments include OSHA and Joint Commission mandatories, nursing and allied assessments, as well as clinical skills checklists.

Measuring a candidate’s skill level in the nursing and healthcare profession is more important than ever. Steps need to be taken to ensure that caregivers hold the latest job knowledge as well as the critical thinking capabilities required of their positions. Prophecy^sm Clinical Assessments identify caregivers with sufficient job knowledge to perform successfully by targeting the most important aspects of each clinical specialty.

Situational Assessments

Prophecy^sm Situational Assessments identify caregivers with soft-skills directly correlated to successful nursing practice.  Designed by practicing registered nurses and a team of industrial/organizational psychologists, critical workplace competencies are measured such as:
 

1.    Interpersonal Competence
2.    Work-flow Management
3.    Teamwork
4.    Customer Service Skills

Real-life job-related video-based situations are delivered online to the caregiver. After viewing the video vignettes, the applicant selects their choices for the most and least effective responses. The answers demonstrate the manner in which the candidate responds to a variety of situations.  Using Prophecy^sm’s Situational Assessments, facilities are able to quantify which caregivers will make the most effective decisions in the workplace as it relates to soft skills and interpersonal competencies.

Going Live

Watch for Prophecysm Health to go live during Summer 2010.   Interested in more information?  Contact Melissa Spangler at (336)802-1070 ext 105 to find out about limited time offerings and special signing incentives.

As the proven leader in providing valid and reliable competency assessment tools for healthcare professionals, we are pleased to announce the release of the following new exams and skills checklist:

• 2010 RN Med/Surg Exam
• 2010 RN Pharmacology Exam
• 2010 Med/Surg Skills Checklist

Suggestions for implementation and important reminders are as follows:

2010 RN Med/Surg Exam

The 2010 RN Med/Surg Exam is replacing our current Med/Surg Exam.  This is a new exam that determines clinician competency based on the general med/surg patient population.  This exam is inclusive of general disease pathologies along with provision of care familiar to the Med/Surg setting.  The Pharmacology component has not been integrated into this exam; therefore you will need to administer a separate RN Pharmacology Exam.

2010 RN Pharmacology Exam

The 2010 RN Pharmacology Exam is a new exam that is designed to determine clinician competency in the area of RN pharmacology.  This exam is inclusive of all vital components in the provision of care related to administration of medications and parenteral therapies.

*** Attempting to include the pharmacology components in the 2010 RN Med/Surg exam would have created a very lengthy exam for the applicant therefore these exams will remain as separate entities.

2010 Med/Surg Skills Checklist

The 2010 Med/Surg Skills Checklist is designed to correspond with the 2010 RN Med/Surg Exam and should be administered simultaneously with this exam.

Important Reminders

The old Med/Surg and Pharmacology exams have been replaced.  Any older versions of these exams that had been sent to caregivers  will remain in the caregiver accounts.  Caregivers will be able to complete these exams at their leisure.  And, of course, the exams that were already completed will remain in their exams for documentation!  But, you will no longer have the older version available for sending via the "Send Exams" screen.

*** Many clients have the old Med/Surg exams included in Exam Profiles. If you want the newly validated exams included in those profiles, you must change your profiles to reflect this. ***

Your profiles can be modified by following a few simple steps. For step-by-step assistance, check out the training video – “Creating Profiles”.

For your convenience, the “Creating Profiles” training video can also be found in your NurseTesting account under the Help tab! Remember that for the protection of your account, only admins have access to updating profiles!

As far as additional assessments, we are not through yet so stay tuned to NurseTesting for more great exams coming in 2010!

As the leader in providing valid and reliable competency assessment tools for healthcare professionals, we want to provide you with a brief overview for the 2009 Neuro ICU, 2009 Neuro Progressive Care Exam and 2009 Endoscopy/GI Lab exams to assist you with their implementation.

2009 Neuro ICU

The 2009 Neuro ICU Exam is a new exam that determines clinician competency based on a critical patient population inclusive of all general disease pathologies familiar to the Neuro ICU setting.  The Pharmacology component has been integrated into this exam; therefore you will not need to administer a separate Pharmacology Exam.

However, you will need to administer the Dysrhythmia Version 2.0 Exam to determine competency for rhythm recognition, as the new Critical Care exams do not contain rhythm strips. Attempting to include the Dysrhythmia strips in the newer exams would have created a very lengthy exam for the applicant.
 
2009 Neuro Progressive Care

The 2009 Neuro Progressive Care (PCU) Exam determines clinician competency based on the sub-acute patient population inclusive of the progressive care or step-down phase. The Pharmacology component has been integrated into this exam; therefore you will not need to administer a separate Pharmacology Exam.

However, you will need to administer the Dysrhythmia Version 2.0 Exam to determine competency for rhythm recognition, as the new Progressive Care exams do not contain rhythm strips. Attempting to include the Dysrhythmia strips in the newer exams would have created a very lengthy exam for the applicant.

2009 Endoscopy/GI Lab

The 2009 Endoscopy/GI Lab Exam determines clinician competency based on a patient population inclusive of procedures commonly performed in this Endoscopy/GI Lab. The Pharmacology component has been integrated into this exam; therefore you will not need to administer a separate Pharmacology Exam.

However, you will need to administer the Dysrhythmia Version 2.0 Exam to determine competency for rhythm recognition, as the new Endoscopy/GI Lab exams do not contain rhythm strips. Attempting to include the Dysrhythmia strips in the newer exams would have created a very lengthy exam for the applicant.

We hope this helps with the implementation of the exams.  Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season!

As the leader in providing valid and reliable competency assessment tools for healthcare professionals, we want to provide you with a brief overview for each of the 2009 ICU and 2009 Emergency Room exams to assist you with their implementation.
 

The 2009 General ICU Exam is replacing our current Critical Care Exam 0308 and Critical Care Medications exams. This exam determines clinician competency based on a critical patient population inclusive of all general disease pathologies familiar to the general ICU setting.  The Pharmacology component has been integrated into this exam, therefore you will not need to administer a separate Pharmacology Exam. 

However, you will need to administer the Dysrhythmia Version 2.0 Exam to determine competency for rhythm recognition, as the new Critical Care exams do not contain rhythm strips. Attempting to include the Dysrhythmia strips in the newer exams would have created a very lengthy exam for the applicant.
 

The 2009 CCU (Coronary Care Unit) Exam is designed to determine clinician competency in the Coronary Care Unit. The Pharmacology component has been integrated into this exam, therefore you will not need to administer a separate Pharmacology Exam.

However, you will need to administer the Dysrhythmia Version 2.0 Exam to determine competency for rhythm recognition, as the new Critical Care exams do not contain rhythm strips. Attempting to include the Dysrhythmia strips in the newer exams would have created a very lengthy exam for the applicant.

The 2009 CVICU (Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit) Exam determines clinician competency based on a critical patient population inclusive of the immediate post-op phase. The Pharmacology component has been integrated into this exam, therefore you will not need to administer a separate Pharmacology Exam.

However, you will need to administer the Dysrhythmia Version 2.0 Exam to determine competency for rhythm recognition, as the new Critical Care exams do not contain rhythm strips. Attempting to include the Dysrhythmia strips in the newer exams would have created a very lengthy exam for the applicant.
 

The 2009 ER (Emergency Room) Exam contains all of the components that are unique to the ER setting and will determine competency accordingly. The Pharmacology component has been integrated into this exam, therefore you will not need to administer a separate Pharmacology Exam.

However, you will need to administer the Dysrhythmia Version 2.0 Exam to determine competency for rhythm recognition, as the new ER exams do not contain rhythm strips. Attempting to include the Dysrhythmia strips in the newer exams would have created a very lengthy exam for the applicant.

Since there is Critical Care Pharmacology Competency integration into each of these exams, we have removed the Critical Care and ER Medications Exams from the exam library. Many clients have the old Critical Care, ER, Critical Care Medications, and ER Medications exams included in Exam Profiles. If you want the newly validated exams included in those profiles, you must change your profiles to reflect this. ***
 

Your profiles can be modified by following a few simple steps. For step-by-step assistance, check out the training video – “Creating Profiles”.

For your convenience, the “Creating Profiles” training video can also be found in your NurseTesting account under the Help tab! Remember that for the protection of your account; only Admins have access to modifying profiles!

As far as additional specialized ICU Exams, we are not through yet so stay tuned to Nursetesting for more great assessments coming in October!

To further assist you, here are a few links regarding the use of the content outlines and scoring that will also be accessible with these exams:
 

Remediation of Clinicians for future NurseTesting Assessments

New Assessment Data Allows Employeers to Make Informed Scoring Decisions

Maintaining the integrity of the testing process is extremely important so no one gains special advantages by having improper access to test questions. The Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology, one of the nation’s premier testing-expert organizations, says

“public disclosure of the content and scoring of most selection procedures should be recognized as a potentially serious threat to their reliability, validity, and subsequent use.”

One way to minimize potential threats to test security is to limit the number of opportunities in which the test’s integrity can be compromised. This includes minimizing the number of people who have access to the content of the exams. In 2007, NurseTesting began using a new assessment design methodology that meets the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978).

In an effort to heighten NurseTesting’s assessment security, the newly validated Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy job knowledge assessments will no longer display incorrectly answered questions on the assessment results page. Following the release of the Physical and Occupational Therapy assessments, a comprehensive Critical Care and Perinatal Suite of assessments, subjected to the rigourous validation process, will launch soon.

James S. Ostmann, Sr RN, MBA, Chief Nursing Officer for Amistaff Healthcare Technology states,

“With the release of NurseTesting’s updated and new clinical assessments, we have elected not to display the missed questions in order to protect the integrity of the test items. Releasing clinical competency assessment content to subscribers or test takers, in essence, nullifies the reliability of the assessment. Hence, the knowledge, skills and/or abilities the assessment was designed to measure and the inferences drawn from those results are meaningless once the assessment content has been compromised.”

For this reason, testing organizations such as NurseTesting that value the reliability and validity of the employment-selection process must take proactive measures to prevent the widespread dissemination of their testing content.

We are pleased to announce the release of our 2009 Malignant Hyperthermia Module!

This module is designed for the Registered Nurse and is inclusive of the Preoperative, Intraoperative, and Postoperative phases for recognition and provision of care in the Malignant Hyperthermia patient. 

You will find this module located under the Mandatory section of our Exam library.

Would you trust your body to an unlicensed physician – then why trust your competency assessments to a company without clinicians on staff?

Mistakes in both of these departments could have detrimental effects. Staffing the wrong caregiver costs facilities thousands of $$$ in liability exposure and skill deficiency.

Consider these points when choosing a competency assessment provider:

1. Be careful of companies that CLAIM they analyze their assessments using TVAP™ yet have NO formal training on how to use and implement the software




2. Be suspicious of companies that allow their clients to manipulate the assessment’s questions and answers. How could they possibly insure each manipulated item has meaningful reliability and validity? Do the modifications adhere to the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures linking to specific job duties and knowledges, skills, and/or abilities identified in a formal job analysis?




3. Be watchful of companies that have NO security on their assessment content.
   - i.e. releasing all questions and answers to the public = meaningless reliablity




4. Be cautious of companies that set arbitrary 80% or 85% pass/fail cutoff scores on ALL of their exams. IF a company truly uses TVAP or other statistical software to analyze assessment data, EACH exam should have its OWN pass/fail cutoff obtained through a thorough test analysis. Arbitrary cutoffs are a HUGE red flag and are INDEFENSIBLE in a court of law.




5. Be leery of companies that offer clinical assessments, yet do NOT have a Nurse or Clinician on staff. How committed could they be to keeping content current?

According to some companies’ marketing material for competency testing, “there are no additional fees.” Remember the old saying, “you get what you pay for.”

NurseTesting.com has been in the competency assessment business for over 6 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 7 full-time clinicians on staff.

In 2007, NurseTesting implemented a new exam validation process to reduce adverse impact and increase the reliability and validity of its assessments. NurseTesting received training from Biddle Consulting Group (BCG) on how to conduct job analysis and item writing workshops as well as utilize BCG’s TVAP™ (Test Validation and Analysis Program) and AutoGOJA™ (Automated Guidelines Oriented Job Analysis).

In accordance with the federal Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978), NurseTesting began following a formal content validation methodology for the creation of new clinical assessments as well as for updating current assessments. Through the use of over 100 subject matter experts, NurseTesting works diligently to keep its content current by conducting annual reviews to ensure relevant, reliable, and valid content.

NurseTesting has conducted over 30 job analyses/job audits since 2007 and insures consistent monitoring of its assessments for adverse impact, poor reliabilities, or assessment deficiencies.

Choose the provider that lives and breathes testing…
– NurseTesting.com –
…the leader in job knowledge competency assessments for the Healthcare Industry.

NurseTesting just released the new Diagnostic Percentile Rankings to their completed exam’s “Details” page.  With continuous live updates, these percentile rankings add a new diagnostic tool for a facility’s internal employees.

The former “Details” page only housed the Overall Score for the exam completed. Each “Details” page now shows two additional percentile scores:

1. National - showing how many other exam takers the person scored higher than nationally, and
2. Company – illustrating how many exam takers the individual scored higher than within the company.

To view the new Diagnostic Percentile Rankings from the “View Scores” page for a particular caregiver:

Select the option for “Details.”

Then select to “Show Percentiles.”

You will see both the “National Rank” and “Company Rank.”

It is important to remember that these ranking only show the percentage of other test takers who received lower scores. Therefore, the ranking could be a bit misleading if many people received high scores in comparison to the individual, or if only a limited number of individuals took the same exam. A person never receives percentile rankings of 100% due to the inability to score better than their own score.

NurseTesting recommends these rankings be used by facilities as a diagnostic tool for internal staff and discourages utilizing them as a pre-screening tool for agencies. The “Overall Score” should be the only pre-screening tool applied to selecting candidates for employment. For this reason, the percentile scores will not appear on the generated PDF version of the “Details” Page.

Check back often to see how the rankings for a particular individual change! The real-time updates keep these rankings relevant.

People 2.0 Selects BlueSky Medical Staffing Software to Manage Business in its New Healthcare Staffing Division

People 2.0 the leading provider of staffing industry back office services has partnered with BlueSky Medical Staffing Software. BlueSky will be implemented in People 2.0’s new healthcare staffing division. BlueSky is designed to support the unique requirements of medical staffing and will help People 2.0 manage credentialing and ensure consistent compliance with Joint Commission standards.

High Point, NC (Vocus/PRWEB ) October 13, 2008 — After a completing an extended process of evaluation and comparison, People 2.0 has selected BlueSky Medical Staffing Software to manage business in its new healthcare staffing division. Carla Fleming, Division V.P., said the choice was largely based on the fact that BlueSky offers a product better designed to support the unique requirements of medical staffing.

“We liked the very clean and intuitive design,” Fleming explained, “and we were especially impressed with the ways Blue Sky can help us manage credentialing and documentation to ensure consistent compliance with Joint Commission standards.”

BlueSky MSS is an enterprise level, web-based software solution that assists healthcare staffing organizations streamline their workflow and automate their on-boarding process for candidates. With BlueSky’s integration of NurseTesting.com, the leader in clinical competency testing, and most recognized by healthcare facilities across the country, People 2.0 can help its affiliated staffing companies insure their candidates are the best qualified.

“After some in depth conversations with the leaders of People 2.0 and its Healthcare Division, it is apparent they are committed to best practices and a quality infrastructure. We are excited about the partnership and look forward to working together to help them accomplish their goals” said Ron Gonzalez, CEO of Amistaff Healthcare Technology.

People 2.0 is the staffing industry’s leading provider of comprehensive back office services. The seven-year-old Pennsylvania company provides small and mid-sized, independent staffing companies with resources and support typical of a much larger, national company. In addition to software and fully managed IT solutions, the company offers payroll funding and payroll processing, tax reporting, workers’ compensation insurance, H.R. and administrative support.

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. These products include NurseTesting, BlueSky Medical Staffing Software and eSigTek Electronic Signatures. Visit www.amistaff.com for additional information.