The current economic environment for hospitals and other healthcare providers is more competitive and difficult to succeed in than ever before. Rising costs of goods and services, decreasing reimbursement from both government and private payors, and the ever-increasing cost of labor are daily challenges that all facilities, regardless of size, are facing. High labor costs, caused by shortages of trained professionals and competing employers like travel companies and interim labor firms, are forcing the bottom line like never before. The Covid 19 pandemic has left lasting effects on an already taxed industry labor market.
It is a generally accepted concept that recruiting new employees cost more than retaining the ones you have. In fact, a recent report(1) put out by SHRM (Society for Human Resource Managers) states that hiring a new employee can cost, on average, 6-9 months of an employee’s salary and go upwards to 2 years. This fact alone is enough for most healthcare administrators to take pause to consider what retention efforts might be used to prevent turnover. Things like better benefits, better hours, and time off are elements that might play into a retention plan as well as providing continuing education. Continuing education which helps the employee to easily meet licensure requirements and provides additional education for more success at the job should be the key and can play an important role in keeping employees.
Continuing education generally refers to any post-secondary education or program a person does in pursuit of new knowledge. The delivery method can vary widely from seminars, conferences, on-line training, or on-site competency-based trainings. Regardless of the mode in which one learns, education plays a key role in healthcare professions, not only for licensure renewal requirements but also for staying relevant in a career, Additional education can help negate the feelings of isolation felt by both busy and secluded practitioners and the professional growth from continuing education can lead to job promotions and better pay. Multidisciplinary education can increase the ability to work as an effective team. The competence resulting from additional training makes for safer providers and better patient outcomes.
In a forever developing and rapidly advancing vocation, it is critical healthcare professionals remain current with the latest knowledge, skills, and best practices to provide high-quality patient care. The medical profession is knowledge driven and staying up to date is crucial. New research findings and treatment modalities require extensive training and retraining. There are few professional fields that have the rapid advancements that healthcare has. Use of new diagnostic tools and procedures calls for an investment in education on the part of the practitioner and if applicable, their employer. Luckily, health care professionals have access to a variety of ways to access continuing education in today’s educational environment.
The organizational structure in which the health care professional works has a significant impact on their ability to participate in meaningful continuing education. A supportive environment includes an importance placed on an educated staff at all levels of practice. This supportive environment includes the flexibility of availability, location, funding, and opportunity. Access to, and support of robust continuing education programming is a job benefit many top employers offer. Flexible conditions for continuing education include time off, available workplace training, local and contextual content and managers that lead by example.
There is a need for incremental but constant development in health care professionals. Some studies have noted that there is less support for experienced and late career professionals. (1) When there is a lack of readily available topical continuing education there is an increase in the sense of isolation for busy healthcare providers. Philip A. Masters, MD tells explains in his article “The Isolation and Loneliness Physicians Experience,” recent studies have shown that alarmingly, up to a quarter of physicians regularly feel isolated in their professional lives. Masters goes on to say that this sense of isolation correlates directly with increased rates of burnout for medical professionals and is associated with consequences such as depression and suicide (2). This sense of isolation can affect all healthcare professionals, whether working in a small practice or a large hospital system, a rural area, or a busy metropolitan city. Dr. Masters states there is immense value in connecting with other practitioners through continuing education, professional societies, and associations. Knowledge can empower healthcare professionals when they feel isolated and powerless.
Additional education will not only lessen isolation, but it is also an effective way to foster professional growth and development. Further developing skills will improve career opportunities. Acquiring skills and certifications empower healthcare professionals to continue to be effective by opening doors to new challenges and roles. Many employers will recognize the time and effort invested into improving skills as new education makes professionals more qualified for advanced practice. Continuing education may lead to additional compensation on the job, or a higher starting salary in a new position.
Multidisciplinary education is an excellent way to connect with other practitioners. Multidisciplinary education may bring together an innumerable mix of health care professionals. Not only can these professionals impact the knowledge shared, but it can also help inform how to work better together as a healthcare team. There has been an increase in multidisciplinary training in the last decade. This type of training introduces participants to the skills and expertise of other professions during their training to hopefully foster a more cooperative and collaborative approach to treating patients. Today many continuing education programs are multidisciplinary in nature, stimulating collaboration, increasing knowledge, and fostering a team environment. There are many justifications for nurses, physicians, and other health professionals to train together. Several studies have demonstrated improved patient outcomes (lower mortality rates, reduced length of stay) with collaborative practice (3).
The public health emergency that gripped our country in a panic from 2020 to 2023 drove our healthcare providers to the brink. COVID 19 has forever changed the way healthcare providers practice their profession and is a good example of how continuing education can impact safety and patient care. (4) Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which still impacts the healthcare system today, healthcare providers showed up for work in a situation where information and training was coming at them at a breakneck speed. For example, the use of telehealth went from 1.1% of healthcare visits in 2018 to over 35% of visits in 2020. (4) Practitioners had to train on how to do virtual visits effectively to meet this need. Remote monitoring of patients also became more common, enabling patients to stay at home in a safer, more comfortable environment. While this reduced exposure, it was also quite a change in patient care. And safety in healthcare practice, while always important, became a life-or-death situation. For example, the simple training of donning and doffing personal safety equipment was lifesaving.
Healthcare is a an ever evolving, knowledge-based profession. Competency-based education is universally acknowledged as the standard for transforming education and training of the healthcare workforce for improved health outcomes. Competency can be viewed as the ability to perform a skill needed for the job. Competence can also be viewed as the attitude and thinking ability of that professional. Education addresses the advancing demands of healthcare by responding to patient need. By strengthening clinical competence, practitioners promote patient safety and care and provide the highest standard of care to their patients. A lifelong learning mindset ensures that skills and knowledge remains current, thereby positively impacting the overall quality of healthcare delivery.
To summarize, the benefits of continuing education are many.
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1) Essential Elements of Employee Retention, Lynchburg Regional SHRM, October 29, 2017, retrieved from https://lrshrm.shrm.org/blog/2017/10/essential-elements-employee-retention. 2) The Importance of Continuing Professional Development to Career Satisfaction and Patient Care: Meeting the Needs of Novice to Mid- to Late-Career Nurses throughout Their Career Span. Sheri Price and Carol Reichert. Retrieved from https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/7/2/17. 3) The isolation and loneliness that physicians experience, Philip A. Masters, MD, May 17, 2019, American College of Physicians, Retrieved from: The isolation and loneliness that physicians experience (kevinmd.com). 4) Lower Medicare mortality among a set of hospitals known for good nursing care. Med Care. 1994;32(8):771–787. Aiken LH, Smith HL, Lake ET. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00005650-199408000-00002. [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]. 5) 9 Ways COVID-19 Has Changed Healthcare Practice, Caitlin Goodwin, MSN, CNM, RN, Published June 3, 2021, Retrieved from: 9 Ways COVID-19 Has Changed Healthcare Practice - GoodRx