By Margaret Whether your care home is made up of just a few carers and a manager, or you have a larger organisation with multiple offices and teams, Learning and Development is a common theme regardless of size. One of the key Learning and Development areas for your care home is undoubtedly e-Learning, that allows the learning process to take place online and reduce any financial or logistical burden that comes with face-to-face training.
Many care homes utilise an automated system such as a Learning Management Systems (LMS) to further develop and upskill staff. An LMS can support any size care home achieve their Learning and Development strategy to further develop, upskill and deliver higher standards of care. LMS software providers will often include e-Learning courses for health and social care within their software, allowing care homes to take advantage of a digital approach to e-Learning.
Learning and Development in Care Homes
By utilising an LMS and aligning your care homes strategic Learning and Development aims with your staff’s own Continued Personal Development (CPD) goals, will allow you to easily identify and bridge any training or skills gaps. Accredited, engaging and interactive e-Learning along with an intuitive LMS will allow your care home to deliver a Blended Learning approach, which involves a range of different learning types, from workshops, face-to-face training, distance learning and e-learning courses.
Many care homes will factor in all of its carers training with learning pathways dependant on experience level. Care homes hold great career progression and personal development is critical across various types of care homes to ensure you retain your workforce. CPD is a key benefit that will see new recruits start on the Care Certificate and continue their Learning and Development journey with more specific courses related to their day-to-day role as a care-worker.
What does e-Learning look like in Care Homes?
In Care homes, there is mandatory training which means Health and Social Care workers are required to undertake adequate induction training and annual refresher training to ensure they remain up-to-date with regulatory requirements. These training courses within a care home commonly include:
- Health and Safety
- Fire Safety
- Equality and Diversity
- Infection
- Prevention and Control
- Manual Handling
- Food Hygiene/ Food Safety Awareness
Once these courses have been allocated to a carer within a Learning Management System (LMS) these can be revisited through workshops, workbooks and e-Learning to keep an individual’s Care Certificate up-to-date.
Where can I get mandatory Courses for my Care Home?
Many Care homes will have different requirements based on size of the home and carers needing e-Learning. Some providers can offer individual courses, where the organisation can pay per course or some providers can offer options built into a single LMS solution. This can be a daunting prospect in looking for these courses or a brand new LMS but it will help digitalise and keep track of your staff’s e-learning for CQC inspections. It will also help the recruitment and retention process within care homes.
If you’d like more information about a Learning Management System to support e-Learning in your care home. We provide with over 100 CPD accredited courses in line with CQC mandatory training and the Care Certificate, please visit us on https://www.mylearningcloud.org.uk/contact/book-a-demo