South Nassau Communities Hospital (SNCH) selected Amistaff Healthcare Technology’s Prophecy(SM) software as a complement to their comprehensive pre-screening assessment and hiring process. The Prophecy system compiles Behavioral, Clinical, and Situational Assessments into a comprehensive healthcare employment predictor. Implementing the Prophecy system ensures SNCH’s commitment to patient care by hiring the caregivers that best fit the SNCH values.

(Vocus/PRWEB ) February 18, 2010 — After a thorough search and business proposal process, South Nassau Communities Hospital (SNCH) selected Amistaff Healthcare Technology’s Prophecy(SM) software to use in addition to their comprehensive pre-screening assessment and hiring process. Implementing the Prophecy system ensures SNCH’s commitment to patient care by hiring the caregivers that best fit the SNCH values.

“The assessment tools provide the hiring manager and recruiter with valuable information to assist in ‘best selecting’ applicants for our vacant positions. The reports are user friendly and the interview questions provided are extremely useful during the interview process,” says Donna Pandolfi, RN, Director of Recruitment & Retention for Patient Care Services.

The assessment tools provide the hiring manager and recruiter with valuable information to assist in ‘best selecting’ applicants for our vacant positions. The reports are user friendly and the interview questions provided are extremely useful during the interview process

Prophecy’s three web-based assessment tools – Behavioral, Clinical, and Situational – test interpersonal competencies missed in traditional testing. The three assessments work together to create the most comprehensive employment predictor for the healthcare industry.

Prophecy Behavioral Assessments, powered by PeopleClues ™, utilize personality and attitude tests to measure cognitive thinking. The results capture behavioral characteristics that predict high performance, such as integrity and conscientiousness.

The Clinical Assessments encompass the extensive exam library of Amistaff’s own 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 skills and knowledge, as well as the critical thinking capabilities required of their positions. Prophecy Clinical Assessments identify caregivers with sufficient job knowledge to perform successfully by targeting the most important aspects of each clinical specialty.

Prophecy Situational Assessments identify caregivers with soft-skills directly correlated to successful nursing practice. Designed by industrial/organizational psychologists, four areas of critical workplace competencies are measured:

1) Interpersonal Competence
2) Workflow Management
3) Teamwork
4) Customer Service Skills

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 tough situations. Using Prophecy’s Situational Assessments, facilities are able to quantify which caregivers will make the most effective decisions in the workplace.

Amistaff looks forward to partnering with SNCH for on-site recordings of additional situational vignettes. The current collection of 25 assessments will be expanded to include the clinical specialties of Critical Care, Labor & Delivery, and Medical/Surgical.

About South Nassau Communities Hospital – South Nassau Communities Hospital is one of the region’s largest hospitals with 435 beds, more than 820 physicians and 2,700 employees. Located in Oceanside, NY, the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health and emergency services. In addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, South Nassau is a designated Stroke Center, boasts Long Island’s first and only Gamma Knife® and is one of seven hospitals in New York without an open heart surgery program permitted to perform angioplasty as an elective or emergency procedure. It is also recognized as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the American Society of Bariatric Surgery. For more about South Nassau, visit www.southnassau.org.

About Amistaff Healthcare Technology – Amistaff Healthcare Technology was founded in 2004 as a healthcare staffing solutions provider. Amistaff creates products and services that help hospitals and healthcare staffing firms improve recruitment, retention and placement of caregivers. Amistaff includes a team of IT professionals, RN’s and former recruiters allowing 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 workflow and increase efficiency. These products include NurseTesting, Prophecy Health, and BlueSky Medical Staffing Software. Visit www.amistaff.com for additional information.

We are pleased to announce the first release of new exams for the 2010 calendar year!  Please use this information to assist with using these exams during your screening process.

2010 Trauma ICU

The 2010 Trauma ICU Exam is a new exam that determines clinician competency based on a critical patient population inclusive of all pathologies familiar to the Trauma 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.

This exam has a corresponding 2010 Trauma ICU Skills Checklist.

2010 Surgical ICU

The 2010 Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) Exam determines clinician competency based on the patient population inclusive of the critical post-operative 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.

***If you want the newly validated exams included in your 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!

We hope this will assist you in the implementation of these new exams!

Some wonderful questions have come into our Q/A box in Get Satisfaction about exams that incorporate a year in their titles (2009 General ICU Exam A).

So, we figured everyone would benefit from a little explanation of the purpose for including the years on the newly validated exams within NurseTesting.

The numerical year that precedes the exam title for the new competency exams and corresponding skills checklist denotes the year in which the validated exam and skills checklist was created.  The newly validated competency exams are continuously monitored for reliability based on ongoing statistical analysis and the skills checklist are reviewed annually to reflect relevant practice. 

As revisions and/or updates are made to the exams, the year will also change accordingly. So, continue sending the exams based on the content denoted from the exam name and disregard the year that starts the exam name.  This is basically in-house tracking for us and will allow you to know when the last updates were on the particular exams you are sending out.

Hope this helps everyone! We look forward to assisting you with your testing needs in 2010!

A recent article in the LA Times caught our attention here at Amistaff Healthcare Technology.  A very valid and present concern for the healthcare staffing industry was brought up in the article Temp Firms a Magnet for Unfit Nurses:

 “Firms that supply temporary nurses to the nation’s hospitals are taking perilous shortcuts in their screening and supervision, sometimes putting seriously ill patients in the hands of incompetent or impaired caregivers” (Weber et al, 2009).

What a claim to be made with the potential to cause detrimental effects on the already declining healthcare staffing industry!  

Unfortunately, the investigation conducted by the LA Times and ProPublica found significant instances where staffing firms “skimped on background checks or ignored warnings from hospitals about sub-par nurses on their payrolls. Some hired nurses sight unseen, without even conducting an interview” (Weber et al, 2009).

One reporter found that “firms hired nurses who had criminal records or left states where their licenses had been restricted or revoked. At least three firms employed a nurse in California whose license had been suspended in Minnesota for stealing drugs at a string of temp jobs. One used him after he’d been convicted of doing the same thing at a Santa Rosa nursing home” (Weber et al, 2009).

Unlike hospitals, staffing firms do not immediately see the effects of an unqualified or inept caregiver.  Hospitals entrust staffing firms with supplying caregivers to complete their workforce.  With hiring the primary focus of a staffing firm, hospitals assume that the firms have access to and effectively use industry leading pre-hire screening assessments. 

A well-known fact is staffing firms pay the bills by placing their employees.  Therefore, the possibility that firms knowingly place incompetent, unfit caregivers in hopes that they will not “mess up” is hard to ignore. 

In fact, the reports of this investigation found examples of this exact fear:

“Temp agencies shuffled errant nurses from one hospital to another, even as complaints mounted. A Culver City agency continued sending one nurse to hospitals despite more than a dozen warnings that she was ignoring her patients and sleeping on the job. Before she was hired, the nurse had been convicted of 12 crimes, including prostitution, carrying a concealed weapon and possessing cocaine” (Weber et al, 2009).

Although Amistaff does not believe that these types of behaviors are the industry norm, we do feel that hospitals and staffing firms alike need to keep their focus on hiring the most qualified caregivers that match the job specific needs of the openings.  The current nursing shortage makes this task more challenging than ever.

So, what can be done?

We recommend hospitals look into the pre-screening tools implored by their elect staffing firm(s).  Supplying onboarding procedures should be a relatively easy task for staffing firms as the process should not differentiate from one clinician to the next.
 
Also, staffing firms and hospitals alike stand to benefit from reviewing and perhaps restructuring their internal hiring process.

Amistaff’s newest, web-based assessment tool – Prophecy Health – tests interpersonal competencies missed in traditional testing. The Behavioral, Clinical, and Situational assessments work together to create the most comprehensive employment predictor for the healthcare industry.

Regardless of the assessments selected, Amistaff strongly advises the use of assessments that are frequently monitored for reliability and validity given the ever-evolving practices in the fast-paced industry.  And, Amistaff’s clients can rest assured that these precautions are taken by our clinical team to ensure we offer the most accurate and complete assessments for the industry.  

Check out how dedicated our clinical team is to this calling by the new development process our NurseTesting.com clinical assessments undergo in order to creating validated content!
 

Weber, T., Ornstein, C., & Schwartz, L. (2009, December 6). Temp Firms a Magnet for Unfit Nurses. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-nurses6-2009dec06,0,1174984.story?page=1

About Prophecy – Prophecy is the aggregation of three assessment tools that work together to generate the most comprehensive employment predictor for the Healthcare Industry. Prophecy Clinical Assessments identify caregivers with sufficient job knowledge to perform successfully by targeting the most important aspects of each clinical specialty. Prophecy Behavioral Assessments identify caregivers with behavioral characteristics that predict high performance, such as Integrity and Conscientiousness. Prophecy Situational Assessments identify caregivers with soft-skills that are directly correlated to successful nursing practice. Learn more at www.prophecyhealth.com .

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!

We are pleased to announce the 2010 National Patient Safety Goals Exams are available for immediate implementation!

To continue in assisting you with your testing needs, we are releasing the 2010 NPSG exams specific for Nursing, Allied, and Non-Licensed Personnel. The following exams are now available and located in the Mandatory section of the exam list:

• 2010 NPSG (Nursing) – includes RN’s and LPN’s
• 2010 NPSG (Allied) – includes PT, OT, ORT, Radiology, Certified Medication Aides, CNA’s (licensed by state) and other Allied personnel that retain licensure.
• 2010 NPSG (Non-Licensed Personnel) – includes CNA’s (non-licensed by state), HHA’s, sitters and all other Non-Licensed Personnel.

The 2009 NPSG exams will still be available in your account until January 1, 2010.

***To use the 2010 NPSG exams via 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!

The 2010 NPSG will also be reflected in the new 2010 Core Mandatories that will be released this month!

We hope that these changes will assist you in your continued success for 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 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

The importance of verifying the “validated content” of your testing provider shows once again as the Fort Smith Gerber Plant will pay $900,000 for hiring discrimination.

When selecting a testing provider, make sure that the company monitors their content for adverse impact and possesses the evidence of validity to support the use of their assessments.

Otherwise, you may find your organization in a similar situation as the one being lived by the Fort Smith Gerber Plant. As noted in the article by the Arkansas Business Staff:

During a compliance evaluation of the (Fort Smith Gerber Plant), investigators found the hiring disparity was in part caused by inconsistent selection procedures for entry-level positions. Additionally, the office found that Gerber used pre-employment tests that negatively impacted minority applicants and determined that there was insufficient evidence of validity to support Gerber’s use of the test.

Gerber has discontinued its use of the test in the hiring process for entry-level positions…Gerber will not only pay 1,912 minority and female applicants $900,000 in back pay and interest, but will provide 61 entry-level positions, 11 of whom have already been hired.

Do your company a favor by completing your homework. Whether considering a new testing provider, or checking up on the one you’ve been using for years, you can never be too cautious.

If the testing provider has the evidence of validity to back up the use of their assessments, they will not only be happy to share it with you, they will also applaud you for your due diligence.

NurseTesting.com highlights their validation process for all assessment content on their website and commends clients for verifying the rigorous monitoring process upheld by the company.

Releasing the first of new assessments – Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and CNA Acute Care – August 24, 2009!

Our clinical team developed a rigorous new process for creating validated content for all future NurseTesting assessments!

New clinical assessments now have two comparable forms that can be used independently and administered for testing – Get ready for Form A & Form B!

The intricate details describing the in-depth job analysis performed by subject matter experts, to the creation of parallel forms using Angoff Cutoff Scores, can be found in our blog post Development Process for New Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and CNA Acute Care Assessments.

Please note that effective 08/25/09, the newly validated Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Acute Care, Occupational Therapy (OT), and Physical Therapy (PT) exams have been released. Many clients have the OLD, CNA, OT, and PT exams included in their Exam Profiles. If you want the NEWLY validated exams included in those profiles, you MUST change your profiles to reflect this. If you need assistance with changing your profiles, please refer to the Training Link under the HELP menu for a tutorial on Creating Profiles.

Upcoming NurseTesting Assessments to look for:

Critical Care Suite & Perinatal Suite