Avoid Heartache and Wasted Dollars in Sonography Training

This article is based on real people who have contacted Sparrow for help. Names and places have been withheld to protect confidentiality.

Who hasn’t experienced buyer’s remorse?

• You decided to try something different at a familiar restaurant, and it wasn’t what you expected, and you regret that you didn’t stick with your favorite.
• You went shopping for a vehicle, and got caught up in the emotion of good salesman and a shiny car, but afterwards, you realized it didn’t have some of the features you really wanted, and you spent more than you intended.
• You found the cutest top on sale, but when you got home, you realized it didn’t fit right, or it didn’t match the pants you thought were perfect for it, and the store had a no return policy.
• You bought a spectacular-looking avocado, but when you cut into it, it was all brown and spotty.

We’ve all experienced it. The level of regret we’ve felt is tied to how much we spent, how great our expectation was, and how much we valued the purchase.

When it comes to spending other people’s money, the burden weighs more. The grief over lost money gnaws at our insides. We recognize that people work hard for the dollars they donate to our ministry. Some give what we’d consider the widow’s mite. The last thing we want is to squander others’ donated funds by making unwise decisions.

• Imagine you’ve invested thousands of dollars—dollars that have been donated by ministry friends who trusted you to put those funds to good use.
• Imagine you’ve invested thousands of dollars on sonography training—training that is critical to the success of your PMC.
• Imagine you’ve invested thousands of dollars and numerous hours of time of your team members—time that is also costly.

Now imagine that afterwards, after you’ve invested thousands of dollars on training, your nurses are not only NOT prepared to scan, they feel defeated by having been told, “You’re probably not going to be able to do this.”

Or, imagine that afterwards, after you’ve invested thousands of dollars on training, AND a week of time, your nurses have completed less than 15 scans, and are told they can “finish their training on their own” by finding an RDMS in their community to supervise their scanning.

Or, imagine that afterwards, after you’ve invested thousands of dollars on training, your nurses not only do not have the proficiency to scan with confidence, the trainer puts the responsibility on your medical director of establishing competency, and your medical director has no knowledge of scanning whatsoever.

Imagine after you’ve invested thousands of dollars on training, you have to explain to your board and donors why your nurses are not prepared to scan. Or you have to go weeks or months without offering ultrasound because the money and time spent did not have the outcomes you expected.

Sadly, each of these situations actually occurred.

PMC nurses and EDs contacted Sparrow Solutions Group for help. We are grateful for the opportunity to help.

But we would have preferred that they had avoided heartache and wasted dollars. Wouldn’t you?

Unlike Amazon or other shopping venues, most training companies don’t have a place for customers to leave reviews or feedback.

While we can assert with confidence the value of our training, we know it’s more important that you are equipped with knowledge and information in your decision-making process.

What do these centers know now that they didn’t know then, that could have prevented heartache and wasted dollars?

Are there questions you can ask in the decision-making process that will reduce your risk of experiencing “buyer’s remorse,” that the PMCs that have contacted us?

YES!!

Here are a few:

• How does the training organization/instructor determine competency?
• What rationale did the training company/instructor use to determine competency?
• Does the training company/instructor have a defined number of scans they require to complete their training course? Do they have a minimum number they require? What is the rationale behind the number of scans required or not required?
• What are the competencies the training organization/instructor has established to determine if a trainee is prepared to scan?
• What does the training organization/instructor provide in terms of pre and post hands-on training to help ensure success of the training?
• How does the training organization/instructor handle situations and individuals who don’t demonstrate proficiency in scanning?
• How does the training organization/instructor manage conversations with individuals who don’t demonstrate scanning proficiency in order to avoid wounding them and to position them to be a stronger warrior in a different role in the ministry?

At Sparrow Solutions Group, our goal is to serve you with such excellence that you are thankful for your investment with us. We are here and ready to answer these questions and more.

Reni Bumpas
Sparrow Solutions Consultant
Dyersburg, TN