workforce
Skills for success
Prioritising learning is key to improving patient care .
By Tim Morris
Today , nurses are increasingly playing a greater role in diagnosing and prescribing treatments . The digitalisation of healthcare systems in recent years also meant that nurses had to upskill to keep up with new administrative demands in addition to their extensive list of responsibilities .
To compound matters further , they faced immense pressure from coping with increased workloads and had to deal with dynamic clinical changes throughout the global pandemic .
Beyond the physical and mental toll on nurses , these conditions have resulted in an increased frequency of care fragmentation and a greater occurrence of adverse events . It is undeniable that the above factors have contributed to the low retention of nurses in the workforce today .
STARTING RIGHT BY PRIORITISING TRAINING New and returning nurses are expected to operate in environments of high stress and staff shortages , with increased responsibilities . In a 2022 study for Elsevier conducted by Ipsos on nurse training , a nursing respondent with less than two years ’ experience shared that they have had to supervise and sign off on decisions made by juniors new to the profession .
The past few years of the pandemic have further disrupted training priorities , evolved patient expectations and fast-tracked innovations in the healthcare industry through technology .
Due to the demands of urgent care provision , training was either put on hold , rushed or moved online . Both nurse educators and new nurses had to adapt quickly to the shift on top of taking on more responsibilities with limited guidance very early on in their careers .
While it was necessary at the time to prioritise caregiving for patients , providing comprehensive training to nurses should not have been neglected . Consequently , it would have benefitted nurses and strengthened their confidence to execute clinical decision making , leading to better efficiencies , quality of care and safety for patients under their management .
Critically , training will help student nurses and returning nurses cope better with the additional responsibilities , armed with new skills required for them to be practice ready .
REDUCING WORKLOAD BY OPTIMISING TRAINING Providing training can sometimes be easier said than done . Part of the World Health Organization ’ s global patient safety action plan 2021-2030 ‘ Towards eliminating avoidable harm in health care ’ highlights the need to adopt a global approach towards the establishment of a safety culture and comprehensive training across health systems to build competencies .
The challenges of implementing continuous and comprehensive training for nurses is related to the scarcity of time . In the same Ipsos study , a significant number of nurses reported that changing policies and procedures as well as guidelines were other deterrent factors they faced . Making time to attend regular courses that required a fair amount of paperwork could cause additional mental burden .
To ease these burdens , standardisation and cutting down text-heavy trainings to bite-sized update sessions could lead to greater learning outcomes , allowing nurses to stay current with the latest technologies and healthcare developments .
It is imperative that the adoption of technologies consider the existing workflow of interdisciplinary teams , enabling an evidence-based , single plan of care to be documented against , minimising the stress of administrative and bureaucratic tasks on nurses .
IMPLEMENTING PRACTICAL SIMULATION TRAINING TO BUILD CONFIDENCE Insights from Elsevier ’ s Clinician of the Future report showed that 69 % of clinicians agreed digital health technologies will be a challenging burden , and of those clinicians that took part in the corresponding survey , 83 % agreed their training needs to be overhauled to keep pace with the introduction of new technologies .
As clinical information grows and progresses hand in hand with the innovation of digital technologies , we must advance nursing competencies and educational curriculums proactively to keep apace across all specialisations .
Training also needs to be revamped to introduce the latest advancements and equip users with the confidence to utilise these new clinical support platforms .
Beyond using existing simulator tools to prepare for actual patient care procedures , nurses should also be trained to use newer digital tools as such exposure improves their inclination towards adopting and adapting in a healthcare system which is fast becoming digital-first .
To develop the next generation of nurses to succeed , we must focus on creating an environment that values lifelong learning , which includes the evaluation and evolution of training according to healthcare systems of the future .
The role of nurses will always evolve alongside healthcare systems . It is ultimately a culture that invests in the nurses , one that allows for alternate pathways for growth that will create more opportunities for further development of skills and knowledge to improve quality of care for patients . ■
Tim Morris is commercial portfolio and partnership director at Elsevier .
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