knowledge transfer and their work. Thirdly, the nurse-educator
also conducted routine assessments of the novice nurse practice
to ensure the progression of her integration and knowledge acqui-
sition.
New nurses as well as older nurses also benefited from the
learning strategies created through the learning organization, par-
ticularly in the case of videos. The video format used for many
projects of the learning organization was considered worthwhile
by four participants since it allowed nurses to show the experien-
tial knowledge in their daily practice and to describe it visually and
audibly, something that could hardly be done before these video
projects were carried out. The four DVD videos were distributed in
the form of binder so that every installation and unit could have
access to these videos. Also, some novice nurses received DVD
copies if it was related to their speciality.
Six participants claimed that these strategies made it possible
to learn anytime and anywhere since the videos were accessible
to them at any time of the day or night on a variety of topics.
Seven participants thought that the information acquisition was
fast and believed that having the information quickly accessible
decreased the time spent for searching it. Additionally, five par-
ticipants noted that the information was customizable and eight
participantspointedoutthatthesevideosrepresentedagreatinfor-
mation reminder for nurses. See
Table 2
for a summary of the
changes brought to nursing practice by the videos prepared within
the learning organization.
Participants also mentioned other changes that took place in
relation to their new work environment. All nurses noticed that
the practice of care improved with the introduction of the learning
organization. Specifically, participants observed improvements in
the level of nurse autonomy; three participants noticed time sav-
ings and two participants noticed a decline in the level of stress at
work.Fourparticipantsbelievedthatthelearningorganizationsup-
portedthestandardizationofpractices,andfournoticedthatnurses
reflected more on their practice. In terms of work satisfaction,
five participants noticed an improvement in general satisfaction
at work. Two participants also mentioned that a collective pride
among nurses seemed to take hold. Eight participants noted that
therewasafeelingofrecognitionoftenassociatedwiththelearning
organization’s projects. For example, some nurses noted that more
colleaguesreferredtothemaftertheirparticipationincertainvideo
projects. It is also interesting to note that all of the learning organi-
zation’s projects were created by a group of chosen experts on the
topic, strengthening collaboration and communication between
nurses, and even with other professionals participating in these
projects.
Five participants believed that the exposure to the learning
organization’s programs and projects would help the process of
appropriation of information by their colleagues and, ultimately,
develop an intellectual curiosity that could bring them to “learn to
learn” by themselves. For four of them, this curiosity could even
encourage some to engage more actively to the learning organiza-
tion culture through proposing new projects or themes and even
participating directly in the creation of learning strategies.
Table 3
summarizes the positive effects of the learning organization on
nurses’ work environment.
In this CSSS, the distance between the facilities is important,
and the use of ICTs was judged critical to achieve the goals of the
learning organization across the points of services. According to
three participants, the committee chose ICTs that were already
available, but that could complete similar tasks at a more reason-
able price than more expensive alternatives. The manager gave
one particular example of this re-appropriation with respect to
the videoconference. Instead of installing expensive videoconfer-
ence systems, the organization opted to use equipment that could
allowpracticalcommunicationamongnursesfromdifferentpoints