How to make medical device training an organizational priority
Hospitals must prioritize medical device training — for patient safety, risk management, regulatory compliance, reducing cost and increasing operational efficiency. However, prioritization can look different from organization to organization.
Medical device training deprioritization and lack of standardization are costly, both for patients and the institution. To ensure that staff competency remains an organizational priority, hospitals can consider the five best practices outlined in this article.
Understanding the importance of prioritizing medical device training
Medical device training is evolving. Healthcare organizations once relied on single in-person sessions or paper manuals that provided basic operational familiarity and little reinforcement of competency or real-world application.
Today, institutions prioritize online technology-driven training programs. Modern systems keep pace with rapid medical technology advances and fit dynamic workflows. Their scalable, cloud-based infrastructure streamlines implementation. However, hospitals that neglect device training at policy and frontline levels risk device misuse, safety incidents and potential regulatory penalties.
Prioritizing medical device training: 5 best practices
The following five best practices help hospitals institutionalize device education and maintain consistent competency across teams.
1. Make medical device training a leadership-backed safety priority
Hospitals should embed medical device training within their safety and quality programs. Senior leadership must commit adequate resources and establish clear policies to ensure all staff receive practical, ongoing training that complies with relevant regulations.
Leadership can further reinforce this priority by serving on safety committees, conducting rounding and leading unit safety huddles.
2. Beat the train-the-trainer (super-user) model
The train-the-trainer model educates a select group of super-users who then share their expertise with colleagues. Digital simulation training solutions outperform the train-the-trainer model by educating all healthcare professionals. They create a scalable, sustainable framework that maintains consistent skill development across the entire hospital — tailored to each target group’s needs.
This approach proves especially valuable when hospitals must quickly onboard large clinician cohorts or introduce complex devices that demand nuanced proficiency.
3. Incorporate medical device simulation training
Today’s medical device simulation training solutions surpass the capabilities of traditional device training methodologies. They replicate real-world clinical scenarios and deliver immediate, data-driven feedback that pinpoints performance gaps. Plus, they expedite competency attainment while eliminating patient risk during the learning curve.
Advanced medical-device simulation vendors deliver cloud-hosted modules that healthcare professionals can access on either laptop or tablet, anytime and anywhere — with automated progress tracking that feeds directly into hospitals’ existing Learning Management Systems (LMS). They tailor scenarios to the exact device models and local protocols, ensuring relevance and compliance without the administrative burden that largely characterizes traditional systems.
Plus, healthcare professionals find medical device simulation training enjoyable. As Julia Geus-Noomen, an OR nurse, noted, "LeQuest's simulation training was fun to do and I felt stimulated to keep going, being able to proceed quickly, while sitting at home on my couch. I was constantly curious about the next question — it was almost like I was playing a game."
4. Provide multi-modal learning
Provide multi-modal training materials that cater to diverse learning strengths. Learning Experience Platforms (LXP) allow a full blended learning experience by combining hands-on physical training with interactive digital device simulation training and other forms of training materials.
But note: Align every format to a single competency framework to avoid conflicting guidance. Also, subject each asset to the same clinical and regulatory review cycle before release.
5. Track training completion
Closely tracking and documenting training completion serves the following functions: It demonstrates compliance with internal policies and external accreditation standards. It also highlights competency gaps that require remediation. Moreover, it informs workforce planning and quality improvement initiatives.
Modern device training systems offer intuitive tracking functionality. This includes training progress at the user and unit level, real-time dashboards that flag overdue competencies, and audit-ready reports that seamlessly sync with existing systems. Such functionality helps hospitals maintain accurate skill inventories and provide verifiable proof of staff competency during audit inspections.
The role of advanced medical device simulation training
Medical device simulation training helps healthcare organizations overcome challenges inherent in traditional learning systems. Modern platforms close training standardization gaps, improve competency retention, streamline logistics, and meet regulatory training requirements. As a result, they help hospitals prioritize medical device training.
Close training standardization gaps
As medical device design and development evolve, healthcare teams face new, often non-intuitive operating principles. These principles may hinder adoption. Without frequent, accessible guidance, staff may use advanced device software and equipment inconsistently, inefficiently or not at all.
Advanced software-based or hybrid medical device simulation platforms address training standardization gaps by offering scalable, interactive, simulations that replicate real-world device interactions. These systems deliver uniform training across clinical roles and locations.
Their intuitiveness further reduces standardization gaps. "LeQuest's simulation training is precise, easy and fun to use — it's like having the device in my own hands: I had to perform all the actions and troubleshoot various scenarios exactly as I would if I was personally handling the infusion pump," noted Sandra Entes, an ICU nurse.
Improve competency retention
Conventional offline training produces uneven understanding because staff knowledge fades over time. As device technology evolves, unresolved knowledge gaps can undermine quality management and reduce procedural consistency.
Simulation training platforms reinforce competencies through repeated, interactive practice that mirrors real-world device scenarios — without patient risk. They also provide data-driven insights that track proficiency, enhance retention and align learning with evolving technological demands.
Streamline logistics
Coordinating in-person sessions consumes time and resources. It complicates schedule alignment across busy departments. Plus, lengthy classroom sessions pull staff from core duties and reduce productivity, hindering efforts to make medical device training an organizational priority.
Advanced medical device simulation training platforms address these concerns by delivering online training modules in a self-paced format that staff can complete independently. These systems eliminate the need for lengthy group training sessions and minimize disruptions to patient care. Logistically, this centralizes training management and reduces administrative friction. It also maintains audit-ready competency records.
Meet regulatory training requirements
Regulation bodies and internal management require documented, verifiable competence in device use and certification. Meeting these standards while controlling budgets strains organizations as training needs grow. Medical device simulation training helps healthcare teams demonstrate device proficiency and earn formal certification. It also makes it easier to expand training as demand rises without straining budgets.
A better approach to patient outcomes
LeQuest produces next-generation, modular online medical device simulation training that supports quality assurance and meets regulatory compliance.
Professor Aad van der Lugt, Chair at the Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine of Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, said, "Aligning innovation in healthcare with Erasmus MC's overall mission to pursue excellence through research and training was what kicked off our talks with LeQuest. We see medical education and training technology advancing at lightning speed, so it was a logical next step for us to reach out directly to the best in the field when it comes to simulation training for the safe use of complex medical devices."
LeQuest customizes its medical device simulation technology to each customer’s needs and aligns it with current educational innovations.
Make medical device training easy — and a priority. Speak to a LeQuest team member today.