Healthcare systems have two types of infrastructure. There is a fixed infrastructure. This comes in the form of buildings, equipment, vehicles, and tools. Then there are personnel, the people who execute healthcare solutions with these resources.
Of the two, people are both more important and more elusive.
Healthcare has one of the highest rates of turnover of any professional category in the world. Hard work, long hours, and an aging workforce have combined to create shortages all throughout the country.
In this article, we take a look at how targeted educational initiatives might help support infrastructure throughout the country.
Can Education Improve Retention?
Education initiatives can improve employee retention in several ways. It helps to understand why people leave a profession in the first place.
Nursing is stressful and hard. That is true. But it is also true that most aspiring nurses go into the field understanding this. What they do not always understand is how it will feel to live with stress and difficulty for 40-plus hours a week, every week, for the rest of their careers.
Many people eventually feel emotionally exhausted and generally burned out by their professional requirements.
Education can improve retention by providing pivots rather than exits.
There are dozens of different specialties for nurses. Many of them are available through specialised certification programs.
These certification options allow people to stay within a healthcare system while moving into work they might find more enjoyable than traditional bedside nursing.
Often, these specialties are highly needed within the community, serving not only to keep people in healthcare but also to fill gaps and eliminate bottlenecks.
But are nursing specialties also difficult? In some cases, yes. However, specialisation allows nurses to focus on areas of medicine that interest them the most.
For example, if primary professional satisfaction comes from working with babies, the elderly, or those struggling with addiction issues, there are specialisations for each of those focus areas. There are also opportunities in community outreach, diabetes education, nursing education, and other related fields.
There are many different ways to apply medical understanding to the benefit of the community.
Specialisation is a reasonably low-lift way to open those doors.
How to Get a Specialised Nursing Job
While every specialisation will be a little different in terms of its requirements, most are reasonably accessible in that you can begin working in the role almost right away.
The way it works is this:
- You decide what specialisation interests you.
- You look for jobs specific to that specialisation.
- You apply, mentioning that you are not certified yet but are willing to begin working on certification right away.
- You are hired on a provisional basis under the supervision of a certified nurse.
- You work within your role while completing the certification requirements.
It may take a couple of years to meet those requirements, but during that time you are effectively doing the job.
If you are wondering whether applying for a job without the certification will be a hindrance, the answer is almost certainly no.
Employers understand the requirements of specialised nursing roles well. Typically, on-the-job experience is a mandatory part of the certification process, meaning you often cannot earn the certification without first working in the role under supervision.
Because professionals who can fill these positions are frequently in short supply, many healthcare organisations are more than willing to support your certification process and may even cover some or all of the associated costs.
Once you have completed the certification, you are generally permitted to work with less supervision, often accompanied by a modest salary increase.
Continuing Education Initiatives Within Hospital Systems
Leveraging continuing education as a general infrastructural support strategy is also an effective way to improve retention and employee morale. It will not always be targeted toward funneling people into a specific career path, though, as mentioned in the last section, doing so can be valuable.
Simply offering continuing education through tuition support and flexible scheduling is a good way to accomplish several things at once:
- It increases the supply of highly skilled professionals within the community.
- It helps employees feel more appreciated.
- It creates career mobility in a way that is not always possible within the healthcare system.
- It gives people a reason to stick around.
One advantage that corporate America often has over healthcare is that when employees perform well, they generally see direct benefits.
That is not always the case in healthcare, where raises are frequently scheduled and performance does not always directly impact access to future opportunities.
Creating a system that supports continuous education can provide an answer to those challenges.
Incentive systems should exist on both sides of the care spectrum. Administrators do not receive as much attention as patient-facing professionals. Nevertheless, they play a critical role in managing healthcare systems and helping hospitals make the most of limited resources.
It is also a role for which continuing education is especially important. While it is possible to become a healthcare administrator with an undergraduate degree, many professionals go on to earn at least a master’s degree, and some pursue a PhD.
Establishing a continuing education incentive structure can apply just as effectively to administrators. It is a practical way to retain talent over the long term, reward strong performance, and encourage meaningful career mobility within the organisation.
Conclusion
If the value of continuing education as a strategy for improving infrastructure sounds overstated, it is worth remembering that this approach mirrors a well-established practice in corporate America.
Businesses understand that if they want to retain talented professionals, offering a comfortable salary is not enough. They must also create an environment of opportunity for nurses.
Stagnation can lead to burnout just as quickly as stress and anxiety.
Nurses are capable of doing difficult work. That is not the issue. What many want is the ability to do that work within a context that makes sense for their interests, strengths, and long-term goals.
Certification programs, continuing education pathways, and leadership development opportunities are all meaningful incentives. They are designed not only to attract talent but to keep it engaged for years to come.
While these initiatives may not be the fastest way to expand the nursing talent pool, they may be among the most sustainable ways to strengthen healthcare infrastructure over time.
