Experience through e-learning can have significant influence on the behaviour of hand hygiene, says Dr. Gerald Sendlhofer from the University Hospital in Graz, Styria. He was interviewed by Carola Timmel.
Mr. Sendlhofer, in course of the international hand hygiene day you were referring about e-learning in this context. What induced you to integrate e-learning in your hospital?
This project is in an early stage. At the moment we are testing it in our eye clinic and at the department of dermatology. In the course of the next year we want to implement it in all departments of our hospital, and subsequently in all Styrian hospitals.
What does this e-learning test involve?
It’s a basic-information about hospital germs and how they spread. The same we implemented for the OP area.
What are the first experiences with this e-learning tool, and what in your opinion are the advantages from e-learning vs. conventional teaching?
So far, we received the feedback from employees that e-learning facilitates the learning content in an easy way. In short videos the most important knowledge is given and best practice examples are shown. It is also important to mention that e-learning takes less time than face-to-face-instruction. Employees can schedule their e-learning whenever they have time to do so. They can repeat e-learning sequences and can improve their knowledge through tests.
Did you develop this e-learning program yourself, or is it a standard program?
We have developed it ourselves, and our ideas were implemented by professionists. For example – the film sequences come from a professional cameraman, and the scenes were performed by actors and the content was approved by hygiene experts.
Where do we stand with e-learning compared to other countries? How many hospitals do already profit from this tool?
So far, we do not have enough information on how many hospitals in Austria, Germany or Switzerland uses e-learning-tools. In this context we also have to discuss which type of e-learning is used. Is it just a Power-Point-presentation in the intranet or is it as in our case a multimodal approach of interactive learning with an examination? In other countries such as Great Britain, e-learning is part of the introduction phase of new employees. They have to undergo a certain amount of e-learning modules otherwise they are not allowed to start their job.
