Why Training and Management Labor Are Treated as Secondary in Healthcare
Training and management labor are treated as secondary in healthcare. People in healthcare careers often have no idea exactly what their days will look like.
That's because their responsibilities are determined primarily on what is needed. Their job is to maximize their impact in the context of helping other people.
Within this fast-paced and unpredictable environment, it can be difficult to prioritize the future when the present is so demanding.
In this article, we take a look at why that is and how training and management can still be prioritized for both of you.
The Simplest Explanation for Why Training and Management Take a Backseat
The simplest explanation for why training and management sometimes take a backseat in healthcare is emergencies. If someone is having a heart attack or another emergency situation, no one is going to interrupt their treatment for training. That's a slightly tongue-in-cheek response. There's more to it, of course.
Another reason is that healthcare has constant demand and a relatively limited supply. In an ideal world, hospitals would have the opportunity to focus on people skills, treat patients well, prioritize regular training, and develop a well-defined route to management and leadership.
Unfortunately, most healthcare systems in the country are short-staffed and dealing with constant turnover. These factors make it very difficult to develop an effective upskilling and management system.
The Reality Inside Hospitals
To be fair, hospitals do all have their own versions of these things. Continuing education is a requirement for doctors, nurses, and administrators, and hospitals typically also have some type of leadership pipeline, though it's often based off seniority more than anything else.
However, they may get better outcomes and better attention if they could prioritize the latter two considerations more consistently.
Why Training and Management Should Be Given Greater Priority
Training and management are important both because they help healthcare workers grow as professionals and because they incentivize people to stay in their position for a longer time. Healthcare has one of the highest turnover rates in the world. A big part of the problem? Stress, of course. Doctors and nurses see and experience difficult things every day. That can't change, but it's also true that the job fails to adequately meet several of the most impactful retention criteria.
For example:
- Clear path towards promotion:
Having the ability to advance your career linearly is an important component of retention for many people. While nurses do receive raises, there are very few traditional promotion opportunities. - Autonomy:
Nurses in particular have relatively limited control over how they execute the job. While their discretion is valued to an extent, they are subject, first and foremost, to the physician's intentions as well as hospital policy. While that's reasonable, it can also limit motivation. People who have more control and autonomy are generally more inclined towards high levels of workplace satisfaction.
Compensation is also an important part of professional satisfaction, of course. Doctors and nurses do make competitive salaries, but in a way that is less tied to their specific effort than is the case with other careers. A person in business, for example, could theoretically double their salary year over year with great results, while a person in healthcare will be given predictable scheduled raises.
How Hospitals Can Prioritize Training and Management Better
Naturally, the priority cannot shift away from patient care, but there is room for a focus on training and management as well.
Most hospitals already have continuing education programs of a sort. Simply highlighting ways that doctors or nurses can up their credentials through seminars or even graduate school is a great way to increase motivation and help staff develop valuable skills.
Creating clearer promotional pipelines is also valuable. Helping nurses and administrators see the path towards new positions with greater levels of responsibility is a good way to increase motivation, retention, and effort.
Even in situations where a degree in healthcare management or a different credential might be required to get someone from point A to point B, it's still worth outlining the steps.
When an employee can visualize what it will take for them to reach their goals, they're much more likely to commit to the process.
Highlighting Options
It's also worth keeping in mind that nurses have so many more career options than many people, even within the profession, realize. There are many dozens of different specialties, making it reasonably easy for people to pivot rather than leave the profession entirely.
While a hospital might lose a floor nurse, they could gain a nursing educator, for example, simply by spotlighting what opportunities are available and how nurses can take advantage of them. It could help to spotlight areas of need within the community and detail what is required to fill those positions. Often, it's actually more straightforward than the person considering the role might at first assume.
Many specialized nursing careers wait on the other side of a specialized certification. Often, you can actually begin working in the role before you've completed any of the classwork. In this case, you start on a probationary period and move on from there.
Specialized certifications are not necessarily a single-fit solution for all of healthcare’s staffing issues, but they can work in tandem with other initiatives to help nurses visualize opportunity and commit to additional training over turnover.
Conclusion
Things are complicated, to be sure, in the world of healthcare. Training and management prioritization won’t fix every problem. They will address more issues than many might at first assume.
By creating opportunities for nurses, hospitals can:
- Consistently upskill staff, and
- Significantly improve employee retention over time.
Emphasis on “time.” While none of the steps we have described in this article provide immediate relieve, they offer a sustainable path forward for modern healthcare.
With a Bachelor’s in Health Science along with an MBA, Sarah Daren has a wealth of knowledge within both the health and business sectors. Her expertise in scaling and identifying ways tech can improve the lives of others has led Sarah to be a consultant for a number of startup businesses, most prominently in the wellness industry, wearable technology and health education. She implements her health knowledge into every aspect of her life with a focus on making America a healthier and safer place for future generations to come.
Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.