05/09/2024
Motivated and skilled clinicians who are driven by a growth mindset are likely candidates to climb the leadership ladder. This comes with an inevitable challenge – maintaining those strong clinical skills while navigating the added responsibilities that come with a leadership role. Traditionally, clinical education and training activities focus on patient care and role-specific skills, offering minimal exposure to business concepts like operations management, budgeting, and strategic planning. How can healthcare organizations start to bridge this competency gap?
HEALTHCARE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES & TANGIBLE IMPACTS
To further illustrate the topic, let’s dial into a scenario. Jack is a nurse supervisor in a post-anesthesia care unit (PACU). He’s just been promoted to nurse manager where his management responsibilities will expand to include staffing and scheduling, performance management, administrative oversight, and collaboration with other peer leaders.
Two paths could unfold for Jack:
1. Jack could quickly transition into his new role as manager, learning by experience through on-the-job training. He’d likely spend an overwhelming amount of time tracking down team members to coordinate scheduling nuances and face unexpected obstacles in managing his business unit, including maintaining a budget, facilitating crucial conversations, and upholding quality care delivery.
2. Jack could get ahead of the inevitable challenges new managers face by participating in his organization’s structured healthcare leadership development training focused on applicable and realistic coaching.
In the second scenario, Jack is able to save time and energy by proactively learning strategies that will make him an effective manager.
Supporting leadership development initiatives requires additional time and resources, but investing in upskilling your team accomplishes two critical elements. First, the investment equips team members, like Jack, with the tools to excel as business leaders, and second, it paves the way for them to spend more time providing patient care.
