Click to view a sample competency exam which may be modified for use in your hospital.
Protocols and Competency Exam
Healthcare technology and the requirements for educating your nursing staff are rapidly changing. The Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals, written by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), requires hospitals and nursing leaders to “assess, maintain, demonstrate, and improve continually” the competency of their staff. The Joint Commission recognizes the fact that a “qualified and competent staff” is required to fulfill the hospital’s mission and to meet the needs of their patient population. One of the standards (HR. 4.2) written by JCAHO states the need for “ongoing in-service and other education and training to maintain and improve staff competence”. In the section on the Intent of HR.3, the manual explains that “the hospital can assess competence in many ways…the hospital uses a combination of ongoing competence assessment and educational activities to maintain staff competence and an objective, measurable system is used periodically to evaluate job performance, current competencies, and skills”.
At MorTan we recognize this need and have developed a Training Tool, a Competency Assessment, and a Sample Policy that can assist in meeting the requirements. The Competency Assessment and Sample Policy can easily be adapted to comply with your institutional formats. Our goal is to work with you to ensure the safe and appropriate use of the Morgan Lens while maximizing positive patient outcomes.
The educational materials provided here were developed with the assistance of MorTan’s nurse consultant Dawn P. Schoenfeld RN, BS, CEN.
The Morgan Lens Competency Assessment
The Morgan Lens Sample Policy/Protocol
Clicking this link takes you to an example of a protocol that you may modify for use in your Emergency Department, and some suggestions for developing your own.
Samples of Current On-line Protocols
Click to view on-line protocols and Morgan Lens references currently used by hospitals and EMS organizations.
Thanks for the opportunity to sing the praises of the Morgan Lens! Those of us who have been in the field for a while wonder what we ever did without them! We find two general uses for the lenses. One is for contact irritation: most typically, splashes. After local anesthetic, for ease of insertion, the lenses fit comfortably on patients of all ages and provide gentle and thorough irrigation of irritant substances. We have many cases of this type. The second most common use is for patients show suffer multiple injuries due to automobile accidents, major trauma, burns, falls, etc. Not only does the lens thoroughly irrigate the eye, removing most or all of the debris that has accumulated, it more importantly frees up the nurse's hands so that she can perform other lifesaving functions. Quite frankly, eye irrigation was treated as "the bottom of the list" often because other patient's other injuries were more devastating with higher morbidity and mortality. Particularly in the burn patient, the soothing effect of the irrigation and potential to prevent infection or further injury, make it an easy to use, valuable asset for patient care.
Registered Nurse (Montana)
MorTan Inc.
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 8719
Missoula, MT 59807
U.S.A.
Shipping Address:
329 East Pine St
Missoula, MT 59802
U.S.A.
Toll-Free Telephone: 1-800-423-8659
Telephone: 406-728-2522
Fax: 406-728-9332
Email: mortan@morganlens.com
Hours
Monday - Thursday
7:30 AM - 4:00 PM MT
Friday
8:00 - 1:00 PM MT