Other Titles
Standardizing ED Technician Onboarding: A Quality Improvement Initiative to Enhance Competency and Care Delivery [Poster Title]
Abstract
Purpose: Emergency Department Technicians (ED Techs) are vital to supporting nursing services and optimizing patient care in high-acuity EDs. However, the lack of a standardized onboarding curriculum has led to inconsistent skill acquisition, variable competency levels, and gaps in preparedness among ED Techs. This project seeks to design and implement a structured onboarding curriculum to standardize training, ensure competency, and enhance consistency in practice. Addressing these gaps will improve care quality and promote a collaborative work environment.
Methods: The ED Tech Council conducted an Essential Skills Inventory Survey to identify core competencies for onboarding, inviting ED Techs to list up to 15 critical skills. Survey responses were analyzed to prioritize key competencies, which informed the curriculum design. The curriculum included orientation, competency assessments, and preceptor-led training. Key stakeholders, including the Nursing Management and Education Councils are collaborating to refine the curriculum, ensuring alignment with patient safety standards and interprofessional collaboration practices. A pilot implementation is planned with pre- and post-training surveys at 30, 90, and 180 days to evaluate the curriculum’s impact on ED Tech confidence, competency, and preparedness.
Results: The Essential Skills Inventory Survey identified five key competencies: communication, equipment familiarity, ECG, vital signs, and CPR, forming the basis of a standardized onboarding curriculum to address skill gaps and improve competency. Collaboration with nursing stakeholders refined the curriculum to align with departmental goals and interprofessional standards. While pilot data are pending, the curriculum is anticipated to enhance ED Tech confidence, preparedness, and contributions to patient care.
Conclusion: This project highlights the role of interprofessional collaboration in addressing gaps in ED Tech onboarding through a standardized curriculum. Input from ED Techs and nursing stakeholders ensured alignment with departmental goals and patient safety standards, fostering a cohesive workplace culture. Using pre- and post-training surveys, the evaluation process will measure outcomes in ED Tech confidence, competency, and preparedness. Findings will guide curriculum refinements, with implications for nursing practice, leadership, education, and improved patient care through consistent and competent ED Tech performance.
Notes
References:
Berggren, A., Sandoz, A., Carrillo, A., & Heusinkvelt, S. (2024). Standardized Onboarding Increases Intention to Stay With the Organization. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 20(6), 105011. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2024.105011
Campbell, A. R., Layne, D., Scott, E., & Wei, H. (2020). Interventions to promote teamwork, delegation and communication among registered nurses and nursing assistants: An integrative review. Journal of Nursing Management, 28(7), 1465-1472. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.13083
Duran-Gehring, P., Bryant, L., Reynolds, J. A., Aldridge, P., Kalynych, C. J., & Guirgis, F. W. (2016). Ultrasound-Guided Peripheral Intravenous Catheter Training Results in Physician-Level Success for Emergency Department Technicians. Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, 35(11), 2343-2352. https://doi.org/10.7863/ultra.15.11059
Koontz, J., Causer, T., Zipf, J., Dillman-Stull, J., & Dumire, R. (2023). Virtual Rural Trauma Team Development Course: Trying to Zoom in on a Solution. Journal of Trauma Nursing, 30(3), 186-190. https://doi.org/10.1097/jtn.0000000000000725
Kurnat-Thoma, E., Ganger, M., Peterson, K., & Channell, L. (2017). Reducing Annual Hospital and Registered Nurse Staff Turnover—A 10-Element Onboarding Program Intervention. SAGE Open Nursing, 3, 2377960817697712. https://doi.org/10.1177/2377960817697712
Liu, J., Ponzer, S., Farrokhnia, N., & Masiello, I. (2021). Evaluation of interprofessional teamwork modules implementation in an emergency department - A mixed-methods case study of implementation fidelity. BMC Health Services Research, 21(1), 853. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-06822-5
Mileski, M., McIlwain, A. S., Kruse, C. S., Lieneck, C., & Sokan, A. (2016). The Effectiveness and Need for Facility Based Nurse Aide Training Competency Evaluation Programs. ABNF Journal, 27(1), 16-19.
Sigma Membership
Beta Gamma
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Pilot/Exploratory Study
Keywords:
Curriculum Development, Interprofessional, Interdisciplinary, Transition to Practice, Onboarding, Clinical Practice, Workplace Culture, Emergency Department Technicians
Recommended Citation
Hoefler, Stephen; Mchugh, Gabriel; Ma, Vincent; Faust, Sydney; Chan, Ryan; Basinillo, Daniell; Harrill, Tai Li; Farruggia, Gabriella; Jain, Aseem; Wray, Daniel; Zaragoza, Daniel; Jisrawi, Emmanuel; Cheung, Maria; and Alzawad, Zaina, "Standardizing ED Tech Onboarding Through Collaboration to Enhance Competency and Workplace Culture" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 64.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/posters_2025/64
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-12-05
Standardizing ED Tech Onboarding Through Collaboration to Enhance Competency and Workplace Culture
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Purpose: Emergency Department Technicians (ED Techs) are vital to supporting nursing services and optimizing patient care in high-acuity EDs. However, the lack of a standardized onboarding curriculum has led to inconsistent skill acquisition, variable competency levels, and gaps in preparedness among ED Techs. This project seeks to design and implement a structured onboarding curriculum to standardize training, ensure competency, and enhance consistency in practice. Addressing these gaps will improve care quality and promote a collaborative work environment.
Methods: The ED Tech Council conducted an Essential Skills Inventory Survey to identify core competencies for onboarding, inviting ED Techs to list up to 15 critical skills. Survey responses were analyzed to prioritize key competencies, which informed the curriculum design. The curriculum included orientation, competency assessments, and preceptor-led training. Key stakeholders, including the Nursing Management and Education Councils are collaborating to refine the curriculum, ensuring alignment with patient safety standards and interprofessional collaboration practices. A pilot implementation is planned with pre- and post-training surveys at 30, 90, and 180 days to evaluate the curriculum’s impact on ED Tech confidence, competency, and preparedness.
Results: The Essential Skills Inventory Survey identified five key competencies: communication, equipment familiarity, ECG, vital signs, and CPR, forming the basis of a standardized onboarding curriculum to address skill gaps and improve competency. Collaboration with nursing stakeholders refined the curriculum to align with departmental goals and interprofessional standards. While pilot data are pending, the curriculum is anticipated to enhance ED Tech confidence, preparedness, and contributions to patient care.
Conclusion: This project highlights the role of interprofessional collaboration in addressing gaps in ED Tech onboarding through a standardized curriculum. Input from ED Techs and nursing stakeholders ensured alignment with departmental goals and patient safety standards, fostering a cohesive workplace culture. Using pre- and post-training surveys, the evaluation process will measure outcomes in ED Tech confidence, competency, and preparedness. Findings will guide curriculum refinements, with implications for nursing practice, leadership, education, and improved patient care through consistent and competent ED Tech performance.
Description
This project addresses the lack of a standardized onboarding curriculum for Emergency Department Technicians (ED Techs), which has led to inconsistent skill acquisition and competency gaps. A collaborative effort with key stakeholders identified core competencies and developed a structured curriculum. The pilot implementation will evaluate its impact on confidence, competency, and preparedness, promoting a cohesive workplace culture and improved patient care quality.