How to Create a Better Training Strategy for Your Healthcare Organization

Throughout their careers, healthcare professionals spend a considerable number of hours on training. From their college education to the certification courses they must take each year to keep their licenses current, healthcare professionals must keep track of several learning requirements to stay current in their fields and provide their patients with care. And while training happens at the individual level, healthcare organizations need to support those individuals to make the training experience as seamless as possible.

The biggest challenges that healthcare organizations face at this moment in history are rigorous compliance regulations, overstressed and understaffed workforces, and outdated technology. The healthcare industry experienced an all-time high of quits in November 2021, and many longtime healthcare professionals are choosing to leave the industry because of stress and strain. The healthcare industry is struggling as a whole to provide care to those in need without burning out essential staff and personnel.

In the larger picture of employee retention, healthcare stands apart because of its purpose-driven mission. Healthcare professionals are highly motivated in their work, their commitment to caring for those in need, and their professional skills. The best way to serve this purpose-driven industry in a time of high quit rates is to cater to employees on that purpose-driven level. Healthcare professionals need to be equipped and supported by their organizations with training resources that enable them to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. As training is so critical to the healthcare worker’s experience, it’s paramount that organizations prioritize their training strategies so that they can boost employee retention, encourage growth, and equip their teams.

With an overstressed workforce, rigorous compliance training requirements, and older technology, healthcare personnel are not currently equipped to thrive in this increasingly complex and stressed-out work environment. It’s time for organizations to revamp their training strategies for this unique moment in the healthcare world. Here are two core principles leaders must follow to create better, more effective training strategies for their healthcare workforce.

Tailor your training strategy to your organization’s needs

The first step that leaders of healthcare organizations must take is identifying their organizational needs. Not every training strategy will work for every organization, and it’s critical to determine where to invest. The most effective training strategy will take into consideration the size of your organization, the types of learners you must cater to, and the everyday functions of your team. Once you determine your organization’s needs, you’ll be able to implement a strategy. Here are a few examples of this in practice.

For healthcare professionals in the travel nursing industry, training must be readily available and flexible. A nurse who has just traveled to a city, state, or hospital may need to complete some basic training to ensure that he or she is in alignment with the organization’s standards or specific rules or regulations in that location. This healthcare organization should then prioritize a flexible training strategy, one that is supported by digital training tools that can operate on mobile devices. Even further, courses should be catered to each learner’s needs, and managers will need to keep a close eye on compliance. The training strategy should incorporate digital technology that is user-centric, focusing on the learner’s experience of the training resources. Organizations should also consider remote credentialing as a bonus feature so that workers can showcase and verify their skillsets from an LMS mobile app.

In healthcare organizations where team members maintain consistent schedules at a single location, mobile functionality may not be as important. However, these organizations often have a large staff with varied certifications and credentials, which means that the organization must track many compliance types at once. For this type of organization, the training strategy should start with the question of compliance. How can the training strategy support compliance requirements, both for training managers who must monitor compliance and for individual healthcare professionals who must complete compliance training? They need a training strategy that leverages digital technology to create a streamlined, automated experience so that learners can stay on track with compliance and avoid falling behind.

There are many varieties of roles, requirements, and responsibilities in the healthcare industry. It’s up to your organization to determine which elements of training to prioritize and how to ensure those needs are met with training technology. If you take anything away from this, remember that your training strategy will only succeed if it’s catered to your team’s needs.

Use technology to support your team

Once you have identified the most important priorities in your training strategy, you should look to see which training technology is available to support your goals. Many healthcare organizations have relied on legacy learning systems that were developed decades ago, systems that are often not equipped with the latest technology. There is a misconception in the healthcare industry that organizations must use healthcare-specific training technology in order to comply with industry standards. This is not the case in 2022. Digital LMS platforms are equipped to manage the complexities of healthcare training—like complying with 21 CFR Part 11, HIPAA, and OSHA—while delivering top-notch training experiences.

There’s no reason to stick with a training platform that does not boast the latest features, updates, and capabilities. Healthcare organizations can leverage new digital technology and still comply with industry standards. For example, the ExpertusONE platform has integrated LMS features like CEUs, e-signature verification, complex versioning, and audit trails that are necessary components in the healthcare training experience.

Technology can help your team thrive if it’s leveraged properly. This question of leveraging technology goes back to the first principle—that you must understand your team’s needs. The goal when investing in any type of training technology should be to support your team members. They should not be jumping through hoops to understand or interact with the tools that you have chosen for your organization. Look for user-centric platforms that make it easy for learners to access courses, follow up on their compliance training, and continue their education on their own schedule. Workers now need more flexibility than ever before, and technology exists to support this need.

If you want a more effective healthcare training strategy that caters to your employees, boosts retention, and improves performance overall, you have to go back to the basics. The two most important principles when developing a training strategy in the healthcare industry are: identify your team’s unique needs and leverage technology as the solution.

Healthcare professionals need the support of their organizations so that they can continue to function in their jobs despite the immense strain on the industry. Training is a great way to equip healthcare professionals, cater to their needs, and show them that your organization will work to provide them with the support they need to thrive. To combat the great resignation that the healthcare industry is experiencing, leaders should prioritize training so that their healthcare employees feel supported and equipped to do their jobs. With a tailored, tech-driven training strategy, healthcare organizations can ensure compliance, support their employees, and provide the best care to patients.

If you’re looking to revamp your healthcare training strategy but aren’t sure where to start, download our interactive workbook. We’ll help you determine the first step.