“Many nurses older than 60 are retiring, and they are joined by
administrators in every other aspect of healthcare. When these
people head out the door, they are taking their vast institutional
knowledge with them.”
administrative structures that nurses and other
clinicians rely on to keep operations running smoothly.
So how to prepare for the losses? For one, look beyond
the skill set these retirees possess. In a recent interview,
Inova Hospital System CEO Knox Singleton said that he
thought his successor shouldn’t just have his strengths,
such as launching specialty programs, but also be
someone with a deeper background in science,
research and clinical knowledge, the better to help new
systems evolve (“Why Inova’s Retiring CEO…,” 2017).
Whatever the position coming open, putting programs
in place that allow for training and mentorship with
current employees will be crucial. While retiring leaders
may not be able to pass along along everything they
know in a relatively short window of time, they can
impart key information that will smooth the path for
their replacements.
It also might be worth seeing if retirees will be available
and willing to act in an emeritus, consultative capacity
so that even more knowledge can be gleaned from
them even after they are gone.
Employee Development Adapting to Changing
Learning Needs and Styles
Workforce training, whether through intense, one-on-
one mentorships or a more traditional classroom
setting, has never been more essential in healthcare.
That said, Millennials don’t learn the same way as
Generation X and/or Baby Boomers, and so a one-size-
fits-all approach isn’t applicable. How can effective,
informative development programs be structured?
First, discover what’s needed in terms of the best style
for the affected workforce. Depending on age and
experience, they may be learners who want to hear
presentations as well as read printed or online
materials, or who want one or the other. Some may
thrive in a classroom setting, while others want
independent, self-guided learning. A third group may
want both, and they all may want or need hands-on,
learning lab-style training as well.
To cover all the bases, it’s likely the safest bet is to
develop a multimodal style for workforce training.
Guard against creating a program that’s so broad and
general it’s ineffective by customizing it to the facility’s
unique environment, as well as to the specific group of
employees being trained. Most importantly, get
feedback throughout the process to make sure it’s what
employees need—and if not, step back, regroup and
retool (“7 Best Practices for Hospitals’ Training, 2012).
AI and The Healthcare Workforce—Partners or
Combatants?
Technological advances are nothing new in healthcare.
Quite the opposite, given the depth and breadth of
innovations that have created life-enhancing and
prolonging devices, surgical techniques and treatments.
But as in other industries, most notably manufacturing,
there comes a tipping point when innovation becomes
a threat to employment security. Can a robotic surgery
device replace a doctor? Will different types of artificial
intelligence, or AI, perform patient-care functions as
well as, or better than, humans? Or, as seems to be the
case now, will it be more of a partnership?
AI and robotics aren’t coming to healthcare—they’re
here. Many large healthcare systems are investing
millions in the people, software, and hardware to
develop what’s becoming known as the “learning
healthcare system,” where a constant feedback loop of
data is input by nurses and other clinicians, run through
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