Implementing the AHWONN Fetal Monitoring program is both exciting and challenging.  The most common questions asked by participants in the Instructor Enhancement Courses focus on the administration of a class and/or the implementation of the program at their hospital.  The logistics can be overwhelming unless you are part of a large hospital system with administrative support and a training department that intends to implement the program.

In San Diego County, the Clinical Nurse Specialists/Educators who participated in the first instructor courses offered realized that our community would be better served if we worked collaboratively to coordinate classes.  Initially, no hospital in the county required their intrapartum nursing staff to attend what is now known as the Intermediate Course as the baseline competency for fetal monitoring interpretation.  As a result no hospital system or community agency was interested in providing the administrative support necessary to implement the program.  Our instructor group set goals which were to: 

1.                  Prevent duplication of efforts by the instructors

2.                  Minimize the workload and financial commitment of one hospital/instructor

3.                  Spread the courses throughout the year

4.                  Maintain consistency in our policies and fees

5.                  Continually monitor the needs of the community nursing staff

Through the years our system has evolved.  We have one instructor who oversees the annual calendar, maintains the list of current instructors and communicates changes and updates; another serves as the instructor trainer in San Diego County.  This role includes monitoring the need for new instructors and designated instructors, recruiting and screening potential new instructors, teaching the Instructor Enhancement Course, providing ongoing mentoring for new instructors, and communicating changes and updates regarding course content.  This role allows for the promotion of the concept of community wide coordination and communicates the benefits to new instructors.

Our classes are offered at various sites throughout the county.  We maintain the appropriate balance of Intermediate and Advanced courses to meet the needs of our community.  The annual schedule/calendar is advertised throughout the county.  One instructor for each course is designated as the course administrator and is responsible for

1.                  Requesting the course and maintaining record keeping through AWHONN

2.                  Creating a flyer and publicizing the assigned course

3.                  Coordinating registration of the participants

4.                  Facilitating each day of the course and hiring co-instructors as needed

5.                  Owning the profits or financial loss from the course

In an effort to provide consistency, the course fees are the same regardless of where the class is offered and instructors are paid the same hourly rate when hired to assist teaching a class. We share one set of course materials which were purchased by, and are housed at the Regional Perinatal System.  This minimizes the financial burden to any one specific hospital or instructor.  Another key component of our program is maintenance of consistent policies throughout the community which are supported by the local nursing leadership.  With the support and direction from the nurse leaders, we re-evaluate our policies periodically.  Ongoing communication helps to assure consistency throughout our community.