About In the Know

1. How did In the Know begin?
During the mid 1990's, changes in health care reimbursement caused many health care organizations to slash their operating costs. Unfortunately, many staff development and clinical education departments took the hardest hits because they were not "directly" related to client care.  As a nurse, with experience in acute care, home health and clinical education, In the Know president, Linda Leekley, knew that these budget cuts would put the responsibility for clinical education on the already overburdened shoulders of nursing supervisors.  It became her mission to come up with a realistic way to help. In 1998, she conceived a plan and put it into motion by founding In the Know, a publishing company focused on the ongoing educational needs of certified nursing assistants.

2. Why are certified nursing assistants the only focus at In the Know?
The answer to that is simple.  We understand the vital role that nursing assistants play in the health care team. Today, in many health care organizations, CNA's deliver up to 80% of the hands -on client care! When you consider that aides have the least amount of pre-employment education of any clinical employees, it's clear that their ongoing on-the-job training is crucial. In fact, at In the Know, we believe that consistent, quality inservice education is key to retaining good CNAs and keeping turnover rates low. Good inservice education spurs critical thinking, enhances the quality of client care, and encourages professionalism on the part of aides.

3. How does In the Know decide which topics to publish?
From the start, we wanted to offer a wide variety of inservices, including topics that are mandated by OSHA and JCAHO, topics that serve to enhance skills and topics that address some of the most common conditions—such as diabetes and hypertension—that aides are likely to encounter.  In addition, our inservice topics are chosen based on suggestions from our customers as well as the current "hot issues" in Medicare, JCAHO and medicine.

4.  How are the inservices written?
At In the Know, all of our inservices are written by registered nurses who have experience in home care, hospice, long term care, hospital nursing, health care management and staff development. They perform extensive research to make sure that each inservice contains the most recent information. We combine lots of factual information with practical tips for effective client care and add graphics and some fun stuff, like jokes and funny stories, to make the inservices appealing to the aides who are using them.

5. Do you sell inservice videos?
No, we don't...and with good reason. Our nurse educators know from experience that the fastest way to put a group of people to sleep is by turning the lights down and popping a video in the VCR. While videos can provide some great visuals that assist with learning, in general, they give no opportunity for group interaction and offer no way for the learner to review the information later, at his or her own pace. And, in our experience, by the time a video is produced and ready for sale, the information it contains is often at least a year old.  Our newsletter-style format allows us to offer current information and our suggested activities create a stimulating learning environment in which everyone stays awake!

6. If your inservices aren't videos, what are they?
Our inservices are formatted like a newsletter.  The learner section averages about 12 pages long, including a page of instructions and the quiz. In the Know inservices are very easy to read and are filled with interesting tidbits and pertinent graphics to enhance their appeal.

In the Know inservices may be used in a group setting or as self-study packets.  For example, if your aides are working in clients' homes and are unable to attend a group session, you can just fold up a copy of the learner section and tuck it into the CNA's paycheck. The aide reads through the material, takes the quiz at the end of it, and turns it into their supervisor for grading and inservice credit. 

When our customers use our inservices for group presentations, they usually have a nurse supervisor present the inservices, which contain a section for the supervisor (sort of a "here's how to teach this topic" section), and a learner section with a quiz at the end that is copied and given to each CNA. We also include some "extras" with each inservice, such as discussion questions, teaching tips and a game or two. These help, in a fun way, to reinforce the concepts that are taught during the inservice presentation.

7. Do you ever update your inservice topics?
Yes. Each inservice is updated as new mandates or regulations are released regarding a particular topic. Other inservices are updated periodically to make them fresh. Updated topics will have a minimum of 25% new content.  Updated inservices are available at a discounted price to those customers who have purchased that topic previously.