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Essentials of Critical Care Orientation

Web-based training program by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, Aliso Viejo, Calif. For pricing information, contact ecco{at}aacn.org.

ECCO consists of content modules presented in a body systems approach with accompanying examinations that verify a nurse’s level of concept mastery. The program’s management tools enable nurse managers and educators to track users’ progress through every module and review a variety of reports. The system, considered a "gold standard" of critical care nursing information, is continually reviewed and updated by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

"ECCO enables an educator to provide orientation classes whenever a new nurse is hired to work with critically ill patients, thus increasing the effectiveness of educators and decreasing the training time to contribute to patient care," says Wendy Berke, director of professional practice for AACN.

Sonia Wisdom, RN, BSN, CCRN, nurse clinician for critical care at Mercy Hospital in Miami, Fla, shares why her hospital made the decision to use this unique educational tool as a component of its nursing orientation. "With ECCO, we’re able to expose students to educational information for a whole year. If they’re unsure about something or have forgotten some information, they can go back to the program to find the answer. ECCO allows us to provide ongoing education, even when an educator is not present."

One of the benefits of ECCO is its ability to offer just-in-time orientation. "Now we can sign nurses onto the program at any time, and they can do it at home or in the hospital computer labs or library—anywhere a computer has Internet access. People don’t have to wait for an orientation course several weeks or months in the future. With the ECCO program, they can start their education right away," says Wisdom.

ECCO holds many potential benefits for educators. They can monitor each orientee’s progress online, view test results to identify weaknesses, and quickly address individual needs. "I love it!" says Jackie Leonard, RN, MSN, clinical nurse educator for the pediatric intensive care unit at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Conn. "It saves me hours of lesson planning and from repeating the same content over and over. I now have more time to spend with staff at the bedside."

As hospitals continue to look for ways to cut costs and maintain effective patient care provided by clinicians, the ECCO program is an educational tool that can help them achieve both outcomes.

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