Exergen introduces Virtual Classroom for training on temporal artery thermometry

Nov 30 2010

The Exergen Corporation has introduced The Virtual Classroom, a modern technological approach to training nursing and hospital staff on the clinical science and proper use of temporal artery thermometry. The Virtual Classroom is a computerized educational demonstration with avatars substituted for real people depicting familiar scenarios for clinicians.  

Comprehensive training for new technology can carry a substantial cost for healthcare facilities, particularly with something like thermometry, a key instrument used by millions of caregivers from MDs to RNs to PCAs. Training videos, written educational materials and personal inservicing often fail to capture the attention of those being trained and may require expensive follow-up.  There is also a substantial cost for hospitals to maintain competency levels on all equipment used in patient care.

"Everyone is captivated by the avatars we use in our Virtual Classroom, which means they pay better attention to the training," said Dr. Frank Pompei, CEO, Exergen Corporation.  "People tend to get bored with traditional training methods and retain less information, which means they need frequent and expensive follow-up."

In a trial of the technology, 1,000 nurses and PCAs were trained for temporal artery thermometry (TAT) by viewing the Virtual Classroom on a large projection screen.  One-hundred percent of the attendees passed the subsequent written competency exam, and 99.9 percent passed the product usage demonstration on the first try.  In contrast, the initial pass rates on personal inservicing could run as low as 50 percent.

The Exergen Virtual Classroom can also be easily updated to include new training, products and methods.

SOURCE Exergen Corporation