Allison is a founding member of the orientation task force along with her husband, Matt Helmerichs. In 2015, Allison and Matt were tasked with improving the orientation process in their organization due to the high new graduate nurse turnover. Allison found a drive and passion for education, simulation, and the professional and clinical development of the emergency department nurse.
Allison felt it was essential to improve herself professionally and returned to school, obtained certifications in simulation and emergency nursing, and attended conferences. Allison spent four years in an organization learning consultant role. During her tenure as a learning consultant, Allison honed her consulting skills through attending Flawless Consulting and Improving Human Performance workshops. With her education and training, Allison has collaborated with multi-disciplinary teams to develop and implement a sustainable orientation curriculum, a preceptor workshop, and a web-based orientation evaluation system.
Allison and Matt set a goal in 2015 to leave nursing better than they found it. Working with the NTS partners, Allison is committed to using her expertise and education to help clients achieve this goal.
Education
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1995-1998
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2016-2018
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2018-2020
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2021-2023
Areas of Expertise
Allison Helmerichs has been a registered nurse for over 25 years. She has worked in medical, surgical, and trauma ICU, medical/surgical IMC general care, and emergency nursing. Allison has obtained the following certifications: Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN), Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE), and holds a Trauma Nurse Specialist (TNS) license in the state of Illinois. Allison worked in education for four years as a consultant. During her tenure as a consultant, Allison developed education using the ADDIE model, obtained a certificate in Flawless Consulting and Improving Human Performance, and developed multiple classes for a healthcare system. Allison is a founding member of the orientation task force and led the development of the evidence-based orientation process.
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Flawless Consulting and Improving Human Performance
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Education design and development using the ADDIE model
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Simulation Educator and Facilitator
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Preceptor Development
Preceptor Training
Allison Helmerichs conducted extensive research for her Doctoral Research on the topic of preceptor development. She writes:
Research supports the education and training of the bedside educator - the nurse preceptor. In the emergency setting, the new graduate or experienced nurse without ED experience must learn to manage a diverse patient population in a high-stress, complex environment. The transition from student nurse to emergency nurse or med-surg nurse to emergency nurse is turbulent. The preceptor is crucial to the development and successful transition to independent practice.
High Fidelity Simulation
Increasing the realism in the simulated enviroment to resemble the live enviorment ellicits many of the same stressors and emotions that a nurse may experience providing care to various populations. Including simulation duing orientation allows the learner to practice, experience complexities that cannot be recreated in the classroom and develop a deeper understanding of the purpose of the care.
Benchmarking Performance
Develop deeper insights into learner progress and the overall orientation process by comparing a learner to like kind learners when they were at the same point in their orientation.