BEFORE THE COURSE

1. Save your virtual platform link and any passcodes that the organisers have sent you. Make sure you know how to log on to save stress on the day.

2. Print or save any pre-course reading that may have been sent - check you can access any links to study notes.

3. For most virtual meeting platforms there will be a help page to talk you through things like 'checking internet readiness'.

4. Download any apps needed for it to work (check out this page on the Zoom platform with all the most recent downloads)

5. Check this website can be accessed from the device and any intranet systems that you will be using on the day without any firewall interference.

6. Let your tech department know (if doing it from work) which platform you will be using. They can fiddle with permissions so you don't get blocked by work firewalls on the day (this happens A LOT and results in lots of stress). Again, virtual platforms like Zoom have a page dedicated to telling the tech experts how to set it all up.

7. Be on time (or even better, early). The first bit of a course 'sets the scene' and gives an outline of the session. If you join late you miss this important part. Why not test the links about 15 minutes prior to the start time, get yourself in the waiting room and then go and make a nice brew and return in time for the start. If you have any issues you have a bit of time to sort them then. Things are much easier when you get off to a good start.

8. Aim to use a desktop device as phones usually don't display much and have reduced options (plus you get a very achy neck if your DSE isn't set up right)

9. Restart your device the night before - if any updates need installing you will be glad it happened then and not right a the start of your course. Use the latest versions of Chrome, Safari or Firefox or whatever browser you are using.

10. Prepare your study area so that you can take notes. Pen and paper at the ready! (and coffee and snacks)

11. Ensure you have sorted childcare / clinic appointments / meetings so that you can finish the course and have a bit of reflection time afterwards. Having to leave a course early or in a mad rush means you won't have time to fully digest the session - or you may not receive your certificate of attendance if you haven't attended the full thing. If you know you will have to leave early for another commitment let the organisers know in advance of the course so a contingency can be planned (such as extra reading for instance). TRAINER TIP: It's REALLY awkward when someone publicly asks during a course if they can finish early. Saying 'yes' publicly means that everyone else thinks the rest of the course isn't important, and then they start leaving too! Saying 'no' is just mean and we always understand if something else comes up. No-one can force you to stay on a course!! But it definitely helps to plan for these things in advance (or privately ask the trainer on the day if it's unanticipated).

12. Have a look at the 'after the course' section below and see if you can start preparing for making study files so you know what the plan is after the course. Take a look at the recommendations for portfolio content below and if not already got one, consider assembling one! The more you do or look at in advance of the course, the more likely it is that you will find things that you want answers to. Much better to realise these things in advance than afterwards when it's harder to make contact with the tutor.

13. Have a browse around this website that you're on now just so you are familiar with where all the guidance is that we will be referring to during the course:. You don't have to read every word of everything, it's just so you are familiar with where to continue the learning after the course. These pages form a 'reference list' for everything (and more) that I tend to bring up on courses.

BIG TIP: Go to Aldi and buy all the snacks

Don't forget milk for your brews. And cat food so you don't get nagged by the cat all the way through.

And a bottle of something nice for afterwards to celebrate all your new skills.

DURING THE COURSE

CLOSE EVERYTHING except the platform you are using. If you are using another programme that is using your mic or cam then it may not be able to be used by the training platform. This also saves your bandwidth.

Reduce the number of devices using the internet in your workplace or home. Again, preserve that bandwidth!

LIVE TROUBLESHOOTING!

• Can’t get your video to come on?

• Can’t hear anything?

• Can’t get your mic to work?

• Keep getting kicked out?

• FIRST thing to do: Obvious, but often missed-in-a-panic stuff: Check your volume is turned up! Check covers over camera lenses! Are you headphones connected via Bluetooth and hiding in your bag?

• Log out of the session and log back in again on same link. Look for any dialogue boxes asking if the prog can use your mic/cam. Often these get missed.

• Close other programmes using mic and cams – they may be stopping the use of them on other programs.

• Download the software/app for the particular course you are on (e.g. Zoom/Teams client) if you are able (although preferably do this the night before) – the experience and functionality is much better.

• Bandwidth can be an issue meaning you get kicked out or can’t stream a webcam. Close other programs, turn off as much unnecessary stuff in your environment using internet (E.G. tablets/phones on standby), sit closer to the router, restart the router. Open doors between rooms if router is in another room.

• If it is an unusual problem – have a quick google to troubleshoot – there's always someone else on a message board somewhere who had the same issue and solved it on a forum somewhere.

• IMPORTANT: Know where the mute and stop video buttons are!! Especially if you take your device with you to the toilet so you can carry on listening. TRUST ME, it's happened more than once where a delegate has been up to something they probably didn't want anyone to see, yet everyone saw!! (it's happened to trainers I know as well - Becky if you are reading this, I'm sure everyone loved your on-the-break-workout!).

• And I see a LOT of people shouting at husbands - this seems to be a very common occurrence hmmm...

MORE TIPS: DURING THE COURSE

Are you a bit nervous in large groups or new situations? Me too! I used to get panic attacks and there is no way I would have ever envisioned doing the job I do now back then. But I forced myself out of my comfort zone and after years of practice, I know comfortably (ish) deliver talks to over a hundred people if I am invited to. You can be sure to know that I totally understand nerves, and I never mind if someone wants to turn their screen off and leave the room for a minute, stay quiet for a bit, or just chat with me privately. I want you to be comfortable on my course so do what you need to do to be happy and relaxed. Learning is very difficult if you're not able to concentrate. YOU GOT THIS!

Don't hesitate to message a tutor privately at the start of a course if there is anything we can do to make your experience better or easier.

(Bonus tutor insight: if it makes you feel any better, no matter how confident a tutor looks, we all get the pre-course nerves too!!)

NOTE-TAKING TIPS: Some people like to take notes and others do not. Some benefit from writing furiously throughout and others just find it confusing and just want to listen. That's OK. Do what helps you the most. My personal preference when taking notes is to have four lists on the go so my notes are organised. I add to them accordingly as I go along. Works for me when I'm a delegate on a course.

1. TO DO LIST

2. GLOSSARY

3. TO READ LIST

4. REFLECTION POINTS (I use this list to inspire me for blog titles and future course content)

AFTER THE COURSE

It's not easy being on an intensive course for a large part of the day.

If you're in a similar situation to me then you will probably need to dash off and see to the family or make dinner or walk the dog, but try to take just a few minutes to reflect before you get back to the grind of daily life. You might have some time to think on the journey home. Life can be just relentless sometimes eh? Try to take a moment.

NURSEY TIP: If you are on the NMC register, has anything come up that might be useful for a revalidation reflection?

70% of people are visual learners who really benefit from seeing things in front of them. I suggest a trip to the stationary shop to buy some binders and dividers and make yourself a nice study file full of cheat sheets. Of course, I would always encourage you to use LIVE resources in practice and have a great selection of organised bookmarks, but there is still a role for good old-fashioned paper when you're learning. Highlighters at the ready!! I've suggested some physical portfolio contents below.

Don't forget to use the website pages to help you with both bookmarking and creating physical study files in the subject pages.

Dyslexia & neurodiversity in the workplace and on training courses

I know that life becomes generally harder to navigate when there's a learning difficulty in tow.

I also know that when I was a lecturer in an FE college, the very FIRST thing we did was assess people's needs and make adjustments all over the place to ensure they had a happy educational experience.

THIS priority often comes to a grinding halt once people enter the workplace. Some adults don't even know they have extra needs in the first place. Late or delayed diagnosis is not uncommon. Some people go through their whole lives only to find out much later on that they have been living with Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, or ADHD.

Here are some useful practical links if you or a colleague appears to be struggling:

https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/ This is how they describe themselves: "The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) is the voice of dyslexic people. We aim to influence government and other institutions to promote a dyslexia friendly society that enables dyslexic people of all ages to reach their full potential.". Nice aims!! And some useful info on the website too around learning and workplace adjustments. See https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/advice/employers/how-can-i-support-my-dyslexic-employees/reasonable-adjustments-in-the-workplace

https://www.inclusiveemployers.co.uk/blog/understanding-dyslexia-in-the-workplace/ A very useful bit of information defining 'learning difficulties' and tips for inclusivity in the workplace.

How neurodiversity-friendly is your clinic? Is it time you considered some workplace training for you and your team?

Dyslexia and me: ‘Don’t let your differences stop you’. District nurse Teresa was diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult. She shares her strategies for success in work.

Neurodiversity in medical education. Suggested reading:

Hedlund A. (2023) Autistic Nurse: Do they exist? British Journal of Nursing 32 (4) 210-214

Major R. & Tetley J. (2010) Effects of Dyslexia on Registered Nurses in Practice Nurse Education in Practice 35, 7-13

Neurodiversity Guidance (RCN) For Neurodivergent healthcare professionals and healthcare students and their managers, mentors, teams and union reps.

Royal College of Midwives (2024) Neurodivergence Acceptance Toolkit. Royal College of Midwives

White J.F. (2024) Neurodiversity & nursing: Reflection of a final year general nursing student. Nurse Education Today

Suggested Portfolio Content for Immunisers

1. UK schedules and incomplete algorithm posters

2. Vaccine or eligibility summary posters for your specific vaccines (browse the portals for your vaccines)

3. Anaphlaxis posters

4. Guidance documents (e.g. incident management)

5. Competencies (for all here and for PGD users here as well)

6. Individual vaccine factsheets (e.g. find some summaries on the fabulous VKP)

7. Assessments (such as quiz results / completed workbooks). If you don't have any prior evidence of learning you can use my template workbook and complete some of my quizzes to bulk it up a bit.

8. Hesitancy and uptake resources

Suggested Portfolio Content for Travel Healthers

1. Guidance documents - RCPSG and RCN and Malaria guidelines (see this page for all those)

2. Template risk assessment and management forms

3. Summary of travel vaccines / boosters as a quick reference guide (always go by PGD in practice though!). I've made one and so has the fabulous Jane Chiodini. Check out the tools page for some more templates.

4. Price lists (if applicable)

5. Ordering information, local referral services

6. UK schedules and incomplete algorithm posters

7. Child specific things like malaria dose calculator posters

8. Disease specific factsheets (e.g. see Travel Health Pro and VKP)

9. Complex traveller/trip factsheets

10. Travel health advice - general. Such as altitude, sun safety, food and drink advice, insect bite avoidance

11. Competencies - signed off and completed (also see portfolio contents for immunisers)

•  Get in the clinics and observe as soon as you can while it is still fresh. Make sure you have someone to supervise and support you when you feel ready to have a go yourself. Who is your ‘go to’ for advice and support? Who is your immunisation lead? YOU MUST HAVE A PERIOD OF SUPERVISED PRACTICE AND ASSESSMENT WITH A MENTOR AFTER A COURSE!

•  Enlist some friends, family, and colleagues to help you act out scenarios to check your understanding. There’s nothing like a bit of role play to determine how much you have absorbed! Sometimes we think we know and understand something until we get in practice, meet a challenging situation, and realise we need a bit more education or practice.

•  The same applies for technique. With permission (and careful attention to sharps safety and disposal) take some equipment home and practice with it. Holding syringes, drawing up medication from vials, attaching needles, removing needle sheaths, and so on… (do NOT stab friends and family though!!!) Find out where everything is stored in your clinics too! Is it all in date and organised to your liking?

•  Complete any ELFH modules and competencies relevant to your role (E.G. COVID-19/Influenza for this season). Have you completed other mandatory training such as GDPR, record keeping, consent, safeguarding, chaperoning and infection control?

•  Do you know where your emergency equipment is? Defib? Adrenaline? How do you alert someone for help in an emergency? Is your clinic safe if someone faints? Do you know your incident / near miss reporting procedures? Do you know what to do in the event of a needle stick injury? Find out your local procedures.

•  Make a portfolio of evidence and easy-reference material.

•  Create an organised set of bookmarks on your computer so you have an easy way to refer to the latest information (don’t rely on course slides!). Use the resources on www.alyssclassroom.co.uk to help with this.

•  Ensure you have completed BLS and anaphylaxis training in the last year

•  Put a note in your calendar to enrol on an immunisation update course next year. The recommendation is to have ANNUAL updates, however, ensure you have ways to continually stay up to date as things can change fast in vaccine-world!

•  Subscribe to vaccine update - the monthly publication from the government to keep you up to date. Read through some back issues.

•  Read the Green Book chapters for the vaccines you will be administering and the earlier chapters around vaccine administration, consent and the national immunisation programme in general. Study the national protocols too.

•  Check your own vaccination status and ensure you are up to date with ones such as Hepatitis B, Influenza, and MMR.

•  Try my ‘end of course assessment’ if your workplace doesn’t have a theory assessment for you to complete

•  Reflect on how your practice could improve uptake. Have those conversations at work with your supervisor and come up with some ways to suggest boosting the uptake in your local area.

•  Start your competency sign-offs to self-assess and to give to your supervisor for further sign offs. When complete, keep a copy of this document and give a copy to your supervisor for your personnel file. (FYI Most courses don't require that you send them back to course tutors as we are not your line managers).

TO DO LIST FOR AFTER A FOUNDATION IMMUNISATION COURSE

You will no doubt come off a foundation course very overwhelmed with lots of new information. Don’t worry! This is to be expected. Remember this is just the start of your journey. Here is a helpful list of things to do next so you can prepare for your new role:

Are you a trainer delivering a virtual course?

I have some tips for you too!!

Recommended Tech:

AT LEAST TWO MONITORS!! And practice using them A LOT.

QUICK TIP: If you have rather large screens you might want to turn the brightness down or the glare from them will make you look like a ghost. A ring light is much more forgiving.

A back-up internet supply. EVERYONE is relying on your tech and your internet!! I pay £14 for a 4G router (which I add on to my EE phone contract). It looks like this so very portable (handy for the campervan trips too!). It's RESCUED me a LOT! The other day I was doing a webinar with over 100 people and my internet died half way through (check out the 40 minute mark on my rabies talk in the rabies section of the site). Not fun, but the trusty portable router kicked in before I had even realised I had gone. PHEW!

And it is also very useful for taking to venues for F2F as well. Lots of courses (especially travel health) rely on demonstration of live online resources, so that's also been a very useful gadget. Sometimes the local WiFi can be dodgy or insecure or require you to sign up to things. If you teach as much as I do and regularly go to lots of different venues you start to acquire lots of spam from 'hotels and conference centres' when you have to 'enter your email address' to use their internet.

TIP: Stock up on data - Zoom can eat through 2gb of data an hour sometimes!

A decent webcam. For virtual training I use a 2K HIIEVPU USB webcam as the laptop cam is poor.

A ring light - although natural light is often better. Don't sit with your back to a window - have the light on your face, not behind you or you will look like a ghostly apparition. (There's always a delegate that is just a shadow too for this reason!)

Backups everywhere! Spare internet, spare laptop, spare screen.... It gets a bit pricey but for peace of mind it's worth it in my humble opinion. I even prepare the neighbours on the day of a remote course just in case all my backups fail and I need to pop round suddenly.

Call me an*l but I like to reduce my stressors!

Oh, and I like a bit of comfort too. I use a footstool under my desk at home for my short legs to stop me giving myself DVT's. I never sit down for F2F training, but do get a bit lazier when virtual. Some people (yes, you Euan) have fancy standing desks. Whatever floats your boat. And I have one of those stands that raises the laptop up higher, otherwise I can't move my head in any direction by the end of a day on Zoom.

Attitudes to remote teaching and learning:

OK, so this is always going to be a love-hate thing.

But if the tutor is positive about it; it's contagious.

Remote teaching is brilliant in that it's accessible no matter where you are, attendance is easier (although the technophobes may disagree) and you get to be surrounded with your favourite snacks, your cat can be on your knee, and as soon as you log off there's no packing up and a long journey home. You only need to look presentable from the neck up, and no-one will smell you if you haven't had a shower. You get to meet people's pets, spouses and kids which gives a special little insight you wouldn't get on a F2F course.

The downside is that it's sometimes harder to make a personal connection, especially if people have their cameras off. Not a virtual course goes by where I don't get feedback saying 'would have been better F2F' or 'wish it was F2F'. But fortunately I also get a lot of feedback saying 'virtual was better than I thought it would be' or 'I much preferred the virtual course style'.

Ultimately: we can't please everyone all of the time. But we do have some control over the attitude others might leave the course with if we are simply positive (and have a sense of humour) about the tools we have.

When I start a virtual course I often notice that people can be a little stressed at first having tried to get on the session. I acknowledge that they have now done the hardest part of the course and they can now relax. There's nothing wrong with sympathising when someone has had a little trouble - I think everyone has had a tech issue at some point in their lives and I would like to hope delegates would be understanding in return if I was the one having the problems.

I wrote an article about the joys of interruptions on virtual courses and 'uninvited delegates! Did your dog purchase a place on this virtual course? Kids, pets, pandemics and Zoom: The uninvited course delegates and why everyone is welcome.