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.

In an effort to assist you in obtaining or maintaining your 2008 Joint Commission Certification for Healthcare Staffing Services (HCSS), NurseTesting now features Core Mandatories Parts I and II.

These new Core Mandatories will assist you in meeting or exceeding the Joint Commission’s HCSS Human Resources Management requirements for supplemental staff. The New Core Mandatories also reduce the amount of exams that an individual clinician must take as part of the hiring process. Each part is condensed to a single exam, so clinicians only have to take 2 exams to meet all of the Joint Commission competency requirements. Each core package is accompanied with a manual for the caregiver to review.

Part I (3 exam points) includes:

• Age Specific
• Cultural Diversity
• Disaster Preparedness
• Environmental Safety
• Fire Safety
• Hazardous Chemicals
• HIPAA
• Infection Control

Part II (3 exam points) includes:

• 2008 National Patient Safety Goals
• Abuse
• Domestic Violence
• Ethics for Healthcare
• Pain Management
• Patient Restraints
• Patient Rights
• Workplace Violence Remember you can always send specific exams separately.

High Point, NC, August 22, 2007 – As healthcare facilities strive to control labor costs with the use of staffing vendors, there is also a challenge to control the quality of the candidates being chosen to work at these facilities. Georgetown University Hospital has taken a step towards assuring the quality of care delivered by outsourced labor. Georgetown has chosen NurseTesting.com as its competency testing partner for candidate screening of all healthcare staffing vendors.

Under this new partnership, all current healthcare staffing vendors providing Georgetown University Hospital with contract nurses will be asked to screen their candidates with NurseTesting.com’s nationally validated exams. Screening candidates gives Georgetown University Hospital a more accurate assessment of a candidate’s skill level, leading to better placement of each nurse.

Molly Billingsley, RN, MSN, EdD, Assistant Vice President of operations support at Georgetown University Hospital states “We are very pleased that NurseTesting.com has partnered with us. Carefully screening caregivers is critical in placing quality contract staff.”

Georgetown University Hospital is one of the few Magnet hospitals NurseTesting.com, a Division of Amistaff Healthcare Technology, Inc, is considering partnering with for the next phase of its revolutionary exam validation process. This validation process will give hospitals and staffing firms access to exam content developed and directly correlated to specific job duties and requirements. NurseTesting.com invites other Magnet hospitals to participate in this new validation process. Please contact James Ostmann Sr, RN, MBA, at jim@amistaff.com, for information on how to participate.

Amistaff, formerly Healthcare Testing, Inc., was founded in 2004 as the parent company of NurseTesting.com. Amistaff is currently integrating electronic signature software and medical staffing software to their product line in order to increase the efficiency of hospitals’ and healthcare staffing firms’ human resource processes. Visit www.amistaff.com for additional information.

Georgetown University Hospital as part of Medstar Health represents one of the largest healthcare delivery networks in the region. Georgetown University Hospital is consistently ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. Georgetown is the first hospital in the District of Columbia to be awarded “Magnet Status” by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

CONTACT:
Ron Gonzalez, CEO
Amistaff Healthcare Technology
phone: 703.229.0203 x 102
email: ron@amistaff.com