Virtual CoPs provide instant access to shared learning
Wednesday October 24, 2007 -- Jason Thompson
Because of her busy schedule, Rolande Meush, a clinical resource nurse at Bethesda Hospital in Manitoba, appreciates being able to access on-line Communities of Practice (CoP) for the Safer Healthcare Now (SHN) campaign anytime from any computer.

As a team member for SHN’s medication reconciliation intervention and team lead for the acute myocardial infarction (AMI) intervention at Bethesda Hospital, Meush says the amount of collaboration and shared learning the CoPs are able to facilitate is “amazing.”

Located south of Winnipeg, Bethesda Hospital is under the corporate umbrella of the South East Regional Health Authority, a Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (HIROC) subscriber.

The CoPs are web-based communities for healthcare professionals involved in implementing SHN interventions. They’re accessible anytime, from any computer with an Internet connection. The site includes online discussions, file sharing and event calendars to name a few of the tools made available.

Rather than face the challenges of SHN implementation on their own, Meush says it’s a great resource to have access to teams across the country that are facing similar challenges.

Although she’s usually visiting the sites to see what other intervention teams are doing, Meush says the CoP has been useful in helping her AMI team overcome implementation challenges.

For example, one of the aspects of AMI implementation is the creation of a smoking cessation program. Because there wasn’t one in place at Bethesda Hospital, Meush logged onto the CoP for AMI to see what approach other organizations were taking to deal with smoking cessation.

Meush was able to connect with someone else in the Western Node who was able to provide her with information on smoking cessation programs.

Over the course of a week, Meush says she accesses the site a couple of times from the office. While working from home, she logs onto the site about 10 to 15 times a week.

“I’ve mostly kind of lurked,” Meush says when asked how she uses the CoP. She also receives e-mail updates the instant something on one of the sites has been updated.

“I’ve actually signed up for all of (the CoPs) even though we’re not involved but I still get their updates,” she says.

For more information or to sign up for the online portal, visit www.saferhealthcarenow.ca.