Healthcare is a field marked by constant evolution, demanding that medical professionals continuously refine and expand their skill sets throughout their careers. For instance, as the industry undergoes digital transformation, proficiency in technology becomes increasingly essential.
This ongoing learning journey is crucial for nurses, doctors, and other healthcare practitioners as they progress in their careers. As they assume greater responsibilities and transition into leadership roles, they must acquire both technical and interpersonal skills.
To foster this professional growth and facilitate career advancement, healthcare organizations can cultivate a culture of continuous learning. This approach can help empower medical professionals to develop new competencies and can also encourage them to formalize their knowledge through certifications or credentials.
Here is a closer examination of the importance of continuous learning in the healthcare industry.
What is lifelong learning?
UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning explains lifelong learning as, “a process that continues throughout life to address an individual’s learning needs.” The focus and method of study can be different for each individual based on their needs, goals, current situation and the professional environment where they work.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) points out that standard educational settings, while sometimes useful, are not always the best option for ongoing career-related learning. Instead, a company or organization can create a system of adult learning options that meet the needs of professionals and allow them to tailor their learning to fulfill specific aims.
This type of learning is particularly important in healthcare, where professionals often train for very specific jobs and need to learn certain skills to meet the unique needs of their patients and their facility.
The importance of lifelong learning in nursing
Starting a nursing career involves years of formal learning. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) explains that students must first earn a nursing diploma, an associate or bachelor’s degree and pass a licensing exam to become registered nurses. They can then specialize in various area of care and, when available and if qualified, seek industry certifications in areas such as ambulatory care, emergency medicine or pediatrics. However, nursing education doesn’t end there.
The idea of ongoing training and professional improvement is central to the Code of Ethics for Nurses. Provision 5 of the code details the need for continuous learning and professional and personal growth. The reason for the focus on continued development is to be able to provide better care for patients and remain up-to-date on the latest practices and standards for the industry.
The importance of lifelong learning for other healthcare workers
Other healthcare professionals can benefit from the same approach to lifelong learning because of the specialized and ever-evolving demands of the industry. Continuous advancement of skills can help lead to new opportunities, higher earning potential and leadership roles.
A culture of lifelong learning among all staff members in a medical facility can benefit the facility itself. Skilled employees can improve service, bolster the reputation of the hospital or clinic and improve patient outcomes. For these reasons, organizations can benefit from offering upskilling programs for healthcare workers. Here is a closer look at the benefits of building a culture of lifelong learning for all members of a healthcare team.
Upskilling employees
Upskilling allows current employees to develop new job skills that the facility is currently lacking. By training in-house instead of hiring someone new, the organization can still benefit from the experience of current employees. These workers have likely developed the soft skills necessary for their job, and they are familiar with the unique needs of patients and know how to work in the conditions at their facility.
Other benefits of upskilling include not having to cover the costs of onboarding and training new employees for a specialized position. Also, skilled employees will likely remain with the organization if they feel that their career advancement plans are possible, leading to higher retention overall.
Enhancing communication
Lifelong learning does not have to focus on technical skills. Formal and informal learning can enhance abilities to communicate in a healthcare setting. Effective communication is essential in healthcare where quick responses are often necessary, and outcomes depend on multiple care providers coordinating specific treatments and delegating necessary duties.
Staff should also gain cultural competencies to be able to communicate with, care for and educate patients with different cultural backgrounds. Also, with a broad knowledge base, providers can have enough understanding to collaborate with other professionals to help coordinate patient diagnoses and treatments while reducing errors and improving service delivery.
Improving customer service
A positive approach to lifelong learning can help improve patient services in healthcare settings. Medical professionals often rely on evidence-based practices to ensure the best possible results for patients. This approach involves continuing to study research results and incorporating newly tested and proven methods into diagnostic and treatment processes.
A similar approach is necessary when helping patients with changes to healthcare rules, immunization requirements or insurance changes. Billing and customer service staff need to become experts in each new development so that they can successfully help patients navigate the system.
Examples of lifelong learning in healthcare
As the OECD points out, lifelong learning in the workplace works best with several different but coordinated approaches, including:
Continuing education
Healthcare organizations can offer professional development programs to employees. These programs focus on hard and soft skills that workers can apply directly to their jobs. Because of the focus on specific abilities, the programs can deliver measurable results for employers. This educational approach is best for workers who like to measure progress as they learn.
Organizations can also take a more formal approach to learning by supporting employees’ efforts toward industry certifications or licenses. These credentials can provide personal fulfillment to employees and opportunities for career advancement.
On-the-job training
On-the-job training can help inexperienced employees gain skills that apply directly to their jobs. Training can also help experienced healthcare providers or administrative staff develop new abilities for adaptive leadership in their management roles.
The advantage of on-the-job training is that it focuses on applicable skills rather than theory. While this type of training does not always lead to formal credentials, it can provide real-world abilities and give employees confidence that they know how to apply what they have learned during their daily duties.
Performance assessments
Performance assessments can provide employees and organizations with insights into skill gaps. Individual employees may see the results of assessments and find areas that they can improve with additional training or education.
Organizations can also look at aggregated assessments to find which skills may be lacking. Managers can then target training efforts to address the skill gaps through professional development or on-the-job training.
With the right approach, a healthcare organization can encourage and facilitate lifelong learning to benefit employees, patients, and overall quality of care.