Developing educational excellence for nurses through educational partnership
Hospital systems around the nation recognize the urgent need to recruit new nursing talent while retaining their current staff. To help with these efforts, hospitals and clinics are partnering with Strategic Education, Inc. affiliate, Capella University, to provide education benefits and training.
Cynthia LaRocca, DNP, RN, NPD-BC, director, clinical professional development, at Northwell Health sat down with Adele Webb, executive dean of Healthcare Initiatives at Strategic Education to discuss the importance of these topics and how educational partnerships can be part of the solution.
With health care continuing to evolve, it’s essential for organizations to create pathways for nurses to gain new skills and acquire new knowledge. According to Webb, “Offering these opportunities can often help increase nurses’ satisfaction. We see nurses seek organizations that will provide them the opportunity to grow.”
Given current trends in health care, it’s imperative for organizations to support their staff with access to upskilling in the form of academic degree programs, certifications and other training opportunities.
What is upskilling and why is it essential?
Upskilling is the chance to give nurses skills they didn’t have before. It can help prepare them to perform outside their current role and responsibilities and contribute when resources are stretched thin. Cynthia LaRocca, DNP, RN, NPD-BC, director, clinical professional development, at Northwell Health, notes, “COVID-19 taught us we had to pivot quickly. We realized very fast that we were not quite ready for the types of patients we were seeing at the time. We had to give our team new skills to help them treat patients and assist outside of their usual roles.”
From an organizational standpoint, upskilling is a strategy for learning and development. By expanding the skills of its nurses, a hospital can add the kinds of care they can provide their patients. Webb points out that “Telehealth is a useful example of this. It’s changed so much over the past few years, and it’s taken on a larger part of the services a health care system can offer. Nurses have had to adapt in order to learn how to provide telehealth that’s effective for their patients.”
Upskilling is important, Webb notes, “[because] nursing burnout is rising across the profession. There is a significant shortage. Providing upskilling that results in new career pathways can be effective when highlighted in recruitment efforts.” Providing upskilling pathways can often times be an effective recruitment tool as nurses want to join an organization where they see opportunities for growth.
The relationship between upskilling and nurse satisfaction
LaRocca takes a broad view of how upskilling can aid in nurse satisfaction. “If we can train nurses to not work in their own silo, we can prepare them for multiple roles. When they do so, when they help out in more ways at their hospitals, they could become more satisfied with their work.”
Nurses can also derive satisfaction from knowing their employers support them. Offering access to education signals to nurses that their hospital cares about their development and wants them to succeed. This, in turn, can help build a healthy work environment where teams of nurses feel valued.
