Need
Queensland Health’s LMS has provided a functional technological interface that suits the individual abilities of nursing staff, predominantly in a cancer care setting. CIRCS facilitates two courses on the platform which are contributing to the development of sustainable levels of service in settings where face-to-face education is difficult to provide.

Reach
Seventy percent of Queensland’s land surface area is rural and remote, including 162 public health service facilities. The LMS has allowed CIRCS to expand its educational reach into these geographically restricted areas. So far, 652 nurses in 46 facilities in rural, regional, remote and metro Queensland have participated in these courses. CIRCS hopes to eventually reach 7,000 nurses and standardise the way cancer care is provided.

Benefits
The LMS enables immediate and synchronous communication, content development and delivery, formative and summative assessment and data collection. CIRCS defined objectives and goals to align with Queensland Health policies and address the challenges magnified by geographical distance and unique community characteristics. The absolute reach into rural, regional and remote areas allowed priority goals to be achieved with acceptable quality and minimal resources.

Approach
The nature of the LMS enables a fast and efficient response to changing trends and demands. The LMS is supplemented by education sessions using Telehealth. This enables CIRCS’ Nurse Educator to video link with nurses in rural, regional and remote Queensland. This blended learning approach empowers the delivery of course content to most people in an efficient time.

Conclusion
Queensland Health’s LMS has enabled CIRCS to provide standardised education and resources to nurses who would otherwise be unable to attend face-to-face education sessions. This practice is helping to provide a highly-skilled, capable and sustainable workforce through flexible education delivery.