The Compliance Divas Podcast
Our podcast covers current topics such as infection prevention and control, OSHA and HIPAA compliance for dentistry. We discuss the latest regulatory information, answer frequently asked questions and give suggestions for dental practices to make compliance easy and sustainable. The Compliance Divas are a trusted source for consistent, accurate information based upon current guidelines, standards, science, and recommendations.
The Compliance Divas Podcast
#219 Fall Fun: How to Make Compliance Training Fun
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Compliance training doesn’t have to be dull—and today, we’re proving it. In this episode, the Divas dive into creative engagement strategies like games, quizzes, and challenges, and explore which ones actually move the needle on retention and behavior. If you’ve ever wondered whether fun equals effective in compliance education, this podcast is for you!
- CDC Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health Settings--2003. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5217.pdf
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Welcome. I'm Leslie Cannum. I'm Mary Gavoni. I'm Linda Harvey.
SPEAKER_01I'm Olivia Long, and together we are the Compliance Divas. Welcome to the Compliance Divas Podcast. This is Linda Harvey and I will be your moderator for this episode. I'm particularly excited about this episode because it's we titled it Fall Fun: Gamifying Compliance Training. Has your compliance training lost its luster? Have you been watching the same video year after year and you'd like to augment your team training with some innovative ideas? Well, let's talk about some things that we could do in our compliance training that I would make a difference to add some invigoration, some fall fun, if you will. And Mary, I'm going to ask if you would mind starting us off with some tips and things that you like to do when you're doing training to capture engagement and make it fun.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely, Linda. The first thing that I would like to say is if you are watching the same video year after year, you're not exactly meeting the OSHA training update requirements because there are new developments from almost from one day to another, let alone from year to year. So at some point, I hear from clients who have been doing that. They say, you know, we could recite this whole thing by ourselves, and then they start to tune it out. So we have to make it fun, make it not boring for lack of better description, but we also have to make it meaningful. Um, I guess the difference between entertainment and learning and where do they merge? So a couple of things that I like to do is have what I don't call a scavenger hunt, but it really kind of is. That I will ask the team as we're going through training if there's something, if we're talking about um, for example, emergency exits. Okay, who can name all of the emergency exits in the office? And are they lit? Are they um labeled? Who can tell me if there are any doors in the office that might be mistaken for an exit? Things like that. Um, I ask them to find a safety data sheet for a particular product. That is something that is a really, really great exercise because that's what OSHA inspectors do. They will pull a product out of a cupboard and say, find me the safety data sheet. The inspectors also might say, find me the first aid information or something relevant on that data sheet. So engaging everyone in finding things or naming things, uh, I like to do, I try not to do, although I've seen people use games, my personal preference is to not make them as distracting as some of them can be to people where they get caught more up in the game, like OSHA Jeopardy or something like that, which is a fun thing. But many times the doctors who are paying for the training want it to be very um rigid, if you will, or very training focused. So if you do it, then there has to be a learning component to it. If you got the answer right, why is it right? If you got the answer wrong, why is it wrong? And you talk about those kinds of things. So those are a couple of my favorite things to do.
SPEAKER_01Those are awesome, Mary. Thank you so much. And likewise, I've done something like a scavenger hunt, and sometimes I've gone as far as to create some different um pieces of paper, if you will, or index cards with the things that I want each team to go find and send them out so that way they're getting up and they're moving around and they're actually thinking and talking about it. So I like that idea because it does resement the learning. And all sometimes they'll find out that, oh my gosh, so our emergency oxygen tank is empty or the AED pads are expired. And even though I may have found that in my inspection, we just haven't gotten to it yet. Now they have the revelation that this is what's happened, and it kind of gives them that firsthand, like, oh, okay, now how let's talk about how what we can do to make sure that doesn't happen again. You know, where can we put that in our quality assurance notebook or a task list, or you know, what tags can we put into the computer in our calendar to remind us, you know. And I like one of the things that Olivia does, she she stops after a couple of hours of training and has some office-specific and material-specific questions that she interjects into her training. So that way it kind of reflects back on what they've done. And likewise, I've used done some things like that with an online poll program that I use, where throughout the program I can uh, and there's sort of a few poll questions and might say like um name two things you learned in this section or name two things that you that you were reminded of, because most of the time they know a lot of the material, especially when it's a veteran team. And if it's not new material that we're teaching, and it's maybe something specific to OSHA that hasn't changed, but they just get reminded. So I'll ask them to tell me something new or something that they were reminded. So it makes them reflect back on the training as well. And sometimes I've asked questions where they have to slide the scale over, like how come how comfortable would you be finding your nearest exit in an emergency? Or do you know where the nearest fire extinguisher is to your work area? So that way, you know, if they haven't named them all like you suggest, then they know at least what's in the work area where they are. Where would they go for that fire extinguisher? Because Mary, you and I have both worked with some very large practices. I have maybe five or six fire extinguishers, and trying to remember them all in emergency could be challenging. So one thing they could do as a safety tip would be to take, say, an index card and each fire extinguisher list where the other ones are located. So it might take a little bit of work, but it's not too labor-intensive. But you're listing where the other ones are. So if this one's in the break room, that one will list all the other ones, but you know, and then when you get to the other ones, say the back door, that will list the break room and list all the different ones. So that's a really good idea.
SPEAKER_00That's a great idea, Linda. Where is the next closest fire extinguisher? It makes me think of you know the safety announcement on the airplane. Keep in mind that the nearest exit may be behind you.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, exactly. Well, one of the things I've enjoyed doing over the years is taking them on a field trip. I and I use that term because we'll get up and go to the back and we'll do some demonstrations using glow germ or glow powder, you know, with cleaning and disinfecting. And we kind of all cram into a room. Or and sometimes at those points, when we're on a field trip, I might, if it's a large team, I might give part of the team some scavenger hunt items to go find. Go look up yes, dance sheet like you talked about, Mary, and and then we switch off so that way I have enough people that can fit or team members that can fit into the operatory, and there's not too many spilled outside because if they're trying to get in and they can't see what you're talking about, then it's not really an effective training opportunity. But they really like that idea. And I use the word field trip. We're gonna go on a field trip. And I especially use the field trip if it's a new office and we're just getting calibrated, uh, and there's a number of things that I need to train or talk about to help improve their processes, it's easier to show and talk about it because they're more comfortable back there talking versus me lecturing to them.
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SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And I love that you mentioned Glow Germ. I like to use it, and I know that Leslie uses it a lot. Um, one of the exercises that I've seen Leslie do, and I've seen it done at other meetings, is you have your um team members put on exam gloves, and then you put a dab of shaving cream in their hand, and you ask them to aseptically safely remove their gloves. And so if they end up with any shaving cream on their hands, once they've taken their gloves off, you know that they didn't do it appropriately. So if the shaving cream is in the palm of the hand and you are appropriately taking your glove off by the cuff and turning it inside out, then you're not going to contaminate your hands. And that's a pretty memorable kind of exercise. And one of the things that I love about the Glowgerm products is that they now have um a kind of a mister device where you can put a solution in and you can mist certain areas around the treatment room, and then you can show the treatment room under black light to see where all of the spatter, splatter, or touch contamination is. And then you turn the lights back on and let the team go through their cleaning and disinfecting process. Then you go back in and you look at is or you look for, is there any remaining solution showing under that black light? And that's a pretty big revelation to a lot of people. That's how they find out where they're actually missing, maybe on the bracket tray, or maybe on the underneath of the drawer poles where they may have opened a drawer with a contaminated glove during treatment or where they don't realize how much they've touched. But the other thing that I do is also look at the people, look at the team members, because in many cases they've touched themselves either on the face or on their clothing during that cleaning process. And that also works really well to illustrate the issue of um contaminated hands and long fingernails. That if you use the glow germ solution on the hands and you go wash your hands and then come back and look at them under black light, you see what is left behind on dry cuticles and underneath those long fingernails.
SPEAKER_01Oh, so what a revelation, Mary. What a revelation. And on top of um, when you talk about areas that they miss in the operatory, one area that I find they miss quite a bit is just with the HVE and the saliva ejector, not especially when it's a flip button, flip um lever to turn it on and off, they don't raise it up and get underneath that lever.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, challenge the top of it, they clean over the top of it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but they're really good at getting all the tubes. Everybody's really good about sliding down the tubing for everything, but we have to also think about what's at the top, and that's why so many times the barriers are so effective, you know, in a treatment room, because you can barrier so many of these items. And then, as we know, according to the best practices, we don't need to clean and disinfect those after every patient, but we know in our heads everybody's going to do it anyway because they just can't draw the line and not do it, which is fine. But nevertheless, it makes it easier because you have a lot less contamination in those little grooves and surfaces and buttons when you do have everything barriered.
SPEAKER_00And and so many people, speaking about barriers, so many people are worried about all the plastic sending them to the landfill. Well, you can research the barriers. First of all, they need to be FDA cleared barriers. So we're not going to go to Costco and get the food wrap and use that because it's not cleared. Um, but there are some barriers that have a shorter time to break down at the landfill. But even if we use the barriers to, which may not be the most ecologically ideal thing, but it saves us time and it protects those items from contamination, there are other things you can do in the office to offset what you're sending to the landfill and like recycling all the cardboard cartons that you get shipped products shipped to you in, or recycling the plastic tubs that you get with your wipes and things. So you if you really set out a good plan to be greener, don't immediately toss out the barriers because they serve a very, very important process.
SPEAKER_01Those are some good tips, Mary, when it comes to being um mindful of the environment. You know, take time to select where you can be environmentally friendly and evaluate why or why not in some of the other areas because the barriers serve that important purpose as you just mentioned. So I think that's really critical. Any other thoughts, ideas?
SPEAKER_00Well, I was just thinking about um why not, and this could be a good learning exercise with the team, is to have them actually do their own assessment of how they think they're doing, but also in terms of environmentally friendly, what are the things that they know they do that do help to protect the environment, recycling and those things? And what do they believe could be harmful? And is there a realistic um substitute for it? But when you're looking at the realistic substitute, is it maybe creating a potential for cross-contamination? I mean, some people are going to using um towels uh that they use like shop towels or cloth towels that can be reused for um surface disinfectants, but are you using more than one, like one to clean, one to disinfect? Otherwise, you're defeating the purpose. And um, are you replacing them after every patient because they're contaminated? So there's all kinds of pros and cons. And I like to get the teams engaged in looking at the pros and cons of any kind of changes if we've identified some things that um maybe need to be changed or um enhanced or modified in the practice. Let them be engaged in the what ifs. And trust me, they come up with, as you know, lots of the what-ifs.
SPEAKER_01I love that idea, Mary, because it really helps the engagement and the fun and the you know interaction as well. And anytime we have interaction, we know that it's always easier for adult learners to retain. And when a team can contribute their thoughts and ideas, then we know they're more than likely going to be implemented and follow through because it's all about ownership and not about you or I or Leslie or Mary coming in and telling me it has to be this way. And while we give everybody the best practice and we teach that, how it's implemented could all be slightly different in different offices because the layout is different, the equipment is different. But uh but nevertheless, um, it's very important to follow the best practices and all the instructions for use for all of your products and making sure that you have FDA cleared items so that way you're staying compliant and you're not purchasing from unknown vendors or um online retail places uh that are not dental or healthcare specific, where you just don't know the product that you're that you're purchasing just to save a few pennies because um it may not be the best product in the end.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01So thank you for joining us for this episode of the Compliance Divas. We bring clarity and simplicity to compliance by navigating the regulatory world to keep you on course. Mary and I will put some resources in today's podcast for you for some training ideas. And we'd love for you to submit any questions to us at the Compliance Divas email, which is support at the compliance divas.com. And at the end of the podcast, we invite you to scroll down and leave us a review or some comments or feedback. We'd love to hear your thoughts. And we'll look forward to seeing you the next time.