| The
mission of the ERPC emphasizes professional expertise, consultation,
communication, and education to meet the needs of perinatal/neonatal
health professionals and institutions within its 40 county
service area. The reduction of maternal and neonatal morbidity
and mortality and the improvement of the health of mothers
and infants are the ultimate goals Continuing and outreach
education is mandated by the state as a part of the designation
of a regional center and the ERPC supports such education
as one way to fulfill its mission and goals.
Purpose, Philosophy. and Goals
The purpose of the educational unit of
the ERPC is to provide continuing and outreach education for
registered nurses and other health professionals in
north Georgia based on the needs of the individual and the
changing patterns of health care delivery that impact on perinatal/neonatal
care. In accordance, we hold to the philosophy that:
1.Each mother and her infant is entitled to receive effective,
efficient, considerate, and safe care.
2. Such care can only be provided by health professional who
have the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
3. Continuing and outreach education is one mechanism for
promoting and enhancing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes
for the support of competence in practice and quality of care.
4. Continuing and outreach education is an integral pan of
(lie change process, providing an opportunity for the individual
to actively prepare for and respond to change.
5. Continuing and outreach education are separate and distinct
from staff development, in-service education, and orientation,
6. The development of educational opportunities should be
based on accepted adult learning principles and the recognition
of the individual's autonomy and self-direction, life experiences,
readiness to learn, and problem‑orientation to learning.
7,
As self‑-directed individuals, each professional is
responsible for maintaining his/her clinical competence, applicable
knowledge and skills, and performance abilities through identification
and selection of appropriate learning opportunities.
8, The ERPC is responsible for providing educational opportunities
to assist professionals in their continued growth and development
toward excellence in practice.
9. Intra-and inter-agency cooperation is necessary for the
successful organization and administration of educational
opportunities within the region.
10. The criteria of the American Nurses Credentialing
Center (ANCC) Commission on Accreditation regarding
the planning and implementation of continuing education activities
am appropriate and should be utilized.
To these ends, the
SW of the educational unit is to develop sound educational
opportunities to meet the identified needs of nurses and other
health professionals in the North Georgia Perinatal Region.
| Scope of Educational
Activities |
|
For the purpose of the ERPC, the definition of continuing
education promulgated by the ANA Council on Continuing
Education (1984) will be used:
Continuing education in nursing consists of those planned
educational activities intended to build upon the educational
and experiential bases of the professional nurse for
the enhancement of practice, education, administration,
research, or theory development to the end of improving
the health of the public. (p. 5)
Outreach education is a type of continuing education
in which educational offerings are given in remote and
rural areas, generally by traveling experts (Redmann
& Dorchester, 1985). Tins bringing of the teacher
to the students in sites more accessible to them, wherever
they ought be, removes at least one potential barrier
(distance) to participation in educational opportunities
by community-based nurses.
By these definitions, continuing and outreach education
offered by the ERPC shall encompass all planned learning
experiences designed to extend the knowledge, skills,
and attitudes of
registered nurses in order to keep them
abreast of
their specific field of interest, Nursing concepts,
principles, practices, theories, and/or research we
all considered appropriate content as
long as they meet the needs or goals of
the learner. The knowledge and skills obtained might
be applied either immediately or in future nursing practice
regardless of the nature of
that practice or the work selling.
In comparison to continuing and outreach education,
staff development, in-service education, and orientation
are all more narrowly defined and are generally provided
to meet the needs of the employing agency rather than
those of the learner For example, in‑service education
involves those learning activities designed to increase
competence in carrying out the assigned responsibilities
specific to a given employment setting. Orientation,
on the other hand, serves as an introduction for new
staff to the physical facilities, philosophy and goals,
general operating policies and procedures, and role
expectations in a specific work setting. Staff development
is a broader term, including both in‑service and
orientation models as well as certain aspects of continuing
education, but the focus remains on the fulfillment
of role expectations within a specific agency (Cooper,
1983; ANA, 1984; Puetz & Peters, 1981).
The distinctions
among these modes of professional learning activities
are sometimes subtle and in application they can be
ambiguous and overlapping. Consequently, while ERPC
personnel should be accessible for educational
consultation at all times and may participate in staff
development, inservice, and orientation as requested
by the hospitals in the region, emphasis shall he placed
on continuing and outreach education.
| Level of Care |
| |
Hospitals |
City |
OB Level |
Neo Level |
| 1. |
Atlanta Medical Center |
Atlanta |
III |
III |
| 2. |
Cartersville Medical Center |
Cartersville |
I |
I |
| 3. |
Cherokee (Northside) Hospital |
Canton |
I |
I |
| 4. |
Chestatee Regional Hospital |
Dahlonega |
I |
I |
| 5. |
Cobb Hospital |
Austell |
III |
III |
| 6. |
Emory University Hospital Midtown |
Atlanta |
III |
III |
| 7. |
DaKalb Medical Center |
Atlanta |
III |
III |
| 8. |
Douglass Hospital |
Douglasville |
I |
I |
| 9. |
Dunwoody Medical Center |
Atlanta |
III |
III |
| 10. |
Eastside Medical Center |
Snellville |
III |
III |
| 11. |
Egleston (Children's Healthcare
of Atlanta) |
Atlanta |
N/A |
III |
| 12. |
Fannin Regional Hospital |
Blue Ridge |
I |
I |
| 13. |
Floyd Medical Center |
Rome |
II |
II |
| 14. |
Gordon Hospital |
Calhoun |
I |
I |
| 15. |
Grady Memorial Hospital |
Atlanta |
II |
III |
| 16. |
Gwinnett Medical Center |
Lawrenceville |
III |
III |
| 17. |
Habersham County Medical Center |
Demorest |
I |
I |
| 18. |
Hamilton Medical Center |
Dalton |
II |
II |
| 19. |
Henry Medical Center |
Stockbridge |
II |
II |
| 20. |
Hughes Spalding Children's Center |
Atlanta |
Emory / DCC follow-up
program site |
| 21. |
Hutchestone Medical Center |
Ft. Oglethorpe |
II |
II |
| |
Johns Creek Hopital |
Duluth |
schedule to open
in the fall of 2003 |
| 22. |
Kennestone Hospital |
Marietta |
III |
III |
| |
lanier Park Hospital |
Gainesville |
closed OB department
spring of 2001 |
| 23. |
Mountainside Medical Center |
Jasper |
I |
I |
| 24. |
Newton General Hospital |
Covington |
I |
I |
| 25. |
North Fulton Regional Hospital |
Roswell |
III |
III |
| 26. |
Northeast Georgia Medical Center |
Gainesville |
II |
II |
| |
Northlake Regional Medical Center |
Tucker |
Closed OB department
fall of 200 |
| 27. |
Northside Hospital |
Atlanta |
III |
III |
| 28. |
Parkway Medical Center |
Lithia Springs |
I |
I |
| 29. |
Piedmont Hospital |
Atlanta |
III |
III |
| 30. |
Rockdale Hospital |
Conyers |
I |
I |
| 31. |
Scottish Rite (Children's Healthcare
of Atlanta) |
Atlanta |
I |
I |
| 32. |
South Fulton Medical Center |
East Point |
III |
III |
| 33. |
Southern Regional Medical Center |
Riverdale |
III |
III |
| 34. |
Southwest Hospital & Medical
Center |
Atlanta |
I |
I |
| 35. |
Stephens County Hospital |
Toccoa |
I |
I |
| 36. |
Ty Cobb Memorial Hospital |
Royston |
I |
I |
| 37. |
Union General Hospital |
Atlanta |
Close whole hospital
fall of 1999 |
|
|
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