E-Learning in Healthcare

E-LEARNING IN HEALTHCARE

There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.

E-learning in healthcare professional education still seems like it is a new innovation but the reality is that e-learning has been around for as long as the internet has been around. Training is important for most professions but especially in healthcare it can mean the difference between life and death. 
E-Learning is a valuable option when it comes to continued education for healthcare professionals. E-Learning in healthcare has different benefits, challenges and limitations in the process. 

BENEFITS

There are major benefits of e-learning in healthcare are :

• It may be more effective than traditional learning. 

• E-Learning can happen anywhere. 

• It’s less expensive than traditional training methods.

• It provides a resource. 

• Conducive to all types of learners.

1. Flexibilty: This can help ensure learning is more accessible and is not overlooked. It is flexible to access training.

2. Compliance Management: There are also benefits when it comes to managing compliance and continual professional development, both from an individual and organisational perspective.

3. Time Consuming: It saves time and gives an easy access to learning quickly by E-learning. Especially, in the sector of healthcare it is very important to consume time and work accordinly.

4. Cost Effective: There can also be budgetary benefits in e-learning. Healthcare learning through internet saves cost and gives you accessible training benefits.

In a sector like the health sector where people can be quickly pulled away it is something you can dip out of and go back to – you aren’t locked into a classroom.

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CHALLENGES

 Having someone to take ownership of e-learning within each organisation is a challenge in itself. Then identifying who would benefit from what training and allowing time to complete the training becomes a secondary challenge.

1. Underfunded IT infrastructure. 

2. Lack of protected time. 

3. Thinking that e-learning is the only way. 

4. Non-pc users may find it difficult.

LIMITATIONS

There are some topics where healthcare professionals can only scratch the surface and aren’t able to talk through issues with individuals so they truly grasp the subject matter. However, I don’t think it is suitable for aspects that require a far more sensitive, personalised approach.

1. The assessments that are computer marked generally have a tendency of being only knowledge-based and not necessarily practicality-based.

2. There is also the problem of the extent of security of online learning programs.

3. Most of the online assessments are limited to questions that are only objective in nature.