Program Development with CPNB CONSULTING includes so much more than just learning technical skills required to perform a nerve block with ultrasound! After a full evaluation of your facility and staff, an individualized and thorough implementation plan is created. The first phase of development  for your facility is illustrated in detail, and further phases of development are provided as well along with expected outcome differences from implementation. Implementation occurs in stages at your facility and includes workshops and proctoring for the anesthesia department, interdepartmental organizational meetings, and facility-wide infrastructure development and education. Educational materials are provided, and you may even have the opportunity to earn Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit. We provide assistance with program implementation in aspects of patient care from the surgeon’s office all the way to when the patient has returned home, and we help you track your progress and outcome differences. Between return trips to your facility, we are remotely coordinating and managing your processes. You will always work with the same team from start to finish, and we remain available to you for mentoring and other help after your current phase of development. 

If you are ready to continue moving forward with your progress, we will continue to work with you through the next phases. When you are ready to progress on your own, we can still provide ‘as needed’ help through individual workshops, educational materials or as an extended resource. There are no other resources that can help develop your Nerve Block Program that are as individualized, comprehensive and economical as working with CPNB CONSULTING. If you are a hospital administrator, implementing a successful Nerve Block Program is a major asset to your facility on multiple fronts. The value provided by CPNB CONSULTING is clear.  We look forward to working with you!

 

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO GET A NERVE BLOCK PROGRAM OFF THE GROUND???

Beyond the dollar amount ($2,000 – $3,000 average for course and expenses) and the time away and the hassle involved in attending various courses to get your program going, people usually don’t return from their course and say,  “OK, I’ve heard it, I’ve seen it, and now I know what I need to know to get everything together at MY hospital!” Add the logistics of getting multiple people off at the same time for the same meeting or going to multiple meetings and coming away with conflicting advice. To speak to many people with many skill levels and interests, courses have to be somewhat ‘generic’ (a general survey). That is, there is usually little time available for ‘individualized’ coaching and instruction. They will certainly teach you lots of stuff, but not likely ALL of the stuff and very likely not THE particular stuff that you and your group need to move forward or to sustain your efforts. They can not focus on the particular strengths and weakness of your anesthesia group or the barriers within your particular facility.

Further, when the course is over, so is the instruction and advice. If you have lecture notes or basic information to take with you, that is ALL that you have. Then, what if you have surgeons or administrators with questions or concerns that come up AFTER you return? What about the DEPARTMENT that is not ‘on board’ (like PT, Pharmacy, Nursing)? What about the DEPARTMENT that is willing to support you, but they need their own particular instruction for this process? And who is going to take all of their ‘off time’ to educate the staff and coordinate all the changes that need to be in place as you grow your Nerve Block Program? And WHAT do we teach them, and WHAT do we change? Without further help and insight, people commonly get frustrated with the enormity of the task, and the program fizzles out or never even gets started.

The opposite problem can happen when some anesthesia groups ‘take off’ without proper advisement and run into serious unanticipated consequences that can very easily shut down their program. Sometimes new residents can be outstanding assets to their groups in terms of possessing technical skills and becoming leaders in their department as the nerve block program moves forward. The problem is that typically they only know how their residency program did things, and they don’t have enough experience to start-up a program on their own and may not have the insight needed to coordinate with multiple personalities in different departments. Further, just because nerve blocks are being performed in a facility, it does not follow that the program is optimized or that it is even producing any meaningful positive outcomes.

Gathering enough technical skill on your own within a reasonable amount of time on your own is not an easy task either. One current author* recommends that EACH practitioner attend a BASIC COURSE, followed by continuous independent/self-directed study, 250 supervised level 1-2 nerve blocks, an ADDITIONAL ADVANCED COURSE, more continuous independent/self-directed study, 150 supervised level 1-3 nerve blocks, then a MASTER’S LEVEL COURSE. I agree with the principle of this recommendation, BUT the practicality of getting each individual practitioner to do this much work (within a reasonable period of time) and spend this much time in independent study and spend this much money means that the vast majority of practices are just not going to learn…at least not any time soon.

These are some of the major reason why Nerve Block Programs never get started or never get off the ground, and this is why I launched CPNB Consulting!  At CPNB Consulting, we come to you, and we remain with you through the process! This allows you to learn while you are still at work in your unique environment with your staff and your colleagues. Further, the whole staff around you is uniformly trained, and questions and concerns are addressed across the facility in real time.

*Peter Marhofer, Ultrasound guidance in Regional Anaesthesia, second edition, Oxford University Press Inc, New York, 2010