Elisabeth Svendsen and Line Vik are specialist managers for home care in Nesodden municipality, near Oslo. At lunchtime each Wednesday they hold internal training sessions for their colleagues. They have done this for over a year, with their own internal experts as trainers and using VAR as a basis.

- We structure the training using the topics in the VAR main menu as a basis, plus staff members can also make suggestions and requests, explains Elisabeth. - We have presentations and discussions, and we use the knowledge tests in VAR to put on quizzes – a summer quiz, a Christmas quiz...

- To us it’s all about fully utilising the municipality’s investment in VAR to increase and maintain the expertise of our healthcare workers. Some of the training is just for the nurses, but at other times we invite a broader selection of participants. For instance, the last week in November last year, our topic was EBP with VAR and we invited everyone at the Health Department of Nesodden municipality.

The training arrangement is very popular – many participants turn up even if it’s their day off. The arrangement is firmly embedded with management, and participants can take time off in lieu for attending training sessions on their day off. A common internal training programme is drawn up for six months at a time, with one topic per month, making the scheme clear and easy to understand.

These two committed specialist managers were nominated for Specialist Trainer of the Year in their district, for their expertise-development efforts in the municipality.

Congratulations on your nomination!