This course is offered as a Writing Policies and Procedures program specifically tailored to the unique needs of hospitals. It will equip participants with the skills to clearly distinguish between policies, procedures, and other control documents, while emphasizing the impact of well-written documents on improving patient outcomes. This is a customizable course that can be adapted to any medical environment. Contact us for more information and customized pricing.

Course Objectives

Participants of this course will be able to:

• Explain the characteristics of and differences between a policy, a procedure, and other control documents
• Explain why well-written control documents, when communicated and implemented, lead to improved patient outcomes
• Learn, through tasks and exercises, how to develop and improve strong control documents (using materials from the participants’ hospital, where possible)
• Use critical thinking skills, wording, and structure to clearly convey both information and instruction at every step

Development of Policies

• Goal of this course section: equip participants to create policies that achieve their desired effect
• What is a policy (explanation, description, and quiz)
• Steps to analyse policy development
• Purpose Statement for a policy (explanation, checklist, task for participants)
• Policy template (using the hospital’s template, if they have one; otherwise, discussing and analysing a generic template)
• Review of policy examples (using the hospital’s policies, if possible) for use by the instructor in discussing with and presenting to participants
• Writing exercise for a policy
• The importance of implementing policies

Development of Procedures

• Goal of this course section: equip participants to create procedures that correctly and safely guide a person in successfully completing a task
• What is a procedure, why it’s needed, benefits
• Purpose Statement for a procedure (explanation, checklist, task for participants)
• Procedure template (using the hospital’s template, if they have one; otherwise, discussing and analysing a generic template)
• Steps for writing procedures
• Tips for successful procedures
• Formats: choosing the correct one
• Review of procedure examples (using the hospital’s procedures, if possible) for use by the instructor in discussing with and presenting to participants
• Writing exercise for a procedure
• The importance of implementing procedures

Closing Discussion and Remarks

• What resonated most with participants
• Looking ahead, what are the key challenges that participants see in the implementation of these control documents?
• Reminder of the manual as a useful resource tool