Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue - Paper Example

Introduction

The Healthcare sector is very critical to any country, including the United States. Mismanagement in healthcare affects all the other sectors in the economy. There are many strategies, goals, and objectives in healthcare that aim to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare. The Quadruple Aim provides broad categories of healthcare goals that aim to improve patient service and health providers welfare. Despite much emphasis on improving the health industry, there are still significant challenges in the field. The healthcare industry is dynamic, making it face multifaceted issues over and over again (Ross, 2019). Currently, there are multiple national healthcare stressors in the United States, which all need sustainable solutions. One of the significant stressors is the upskilling of healthcare professionals (includes nurses), which require an immediate solution.

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Upskilling is the process of retraining employees to have the latest skills and knowledge to be productive in their respective posts or tasks. The Healthcare industry keeps growing and changing due to technological advancements, new research, new diseases coming up, and changes in regulations that require health professionals to undergo retraining to perform effectively regularly. Healthcare workers, such as nurses, should possess upgraded skills. In 2019, PwC Health Research Institute identified upskilling as one top significant healthcare issues (Ross, 2019). Technologies such as artificial intelligence threaten healthcare workers if not upskilled due to redundancy. Nurses who have no technological experiences and skills are adversely affected.

Upskilling in my healthcare organization is a significant issue that needs a quick solution. Each time, new emerging healthcare technologies become mandatory for them to be implemented in nursing care, diagnostics, and therapeutics (Teague, 2019). The technologies aim at improving healthcare quality and patient satisfaction. Nurses are therefore having challenges to adapt the technologies due to a lack of needed skills. Organizations have to use some resources to retrain and upgrade their workforce to cope with changes in the industry. It is thus an unavoidable expense for healthcare institutions and consumes immense resources. In my organization, the management has set aside funds to train nurses and other healthcare workers to use electronic health records (EHR). Other organizations are already preparing their workforce for the use of HER.

If healthcare organizations need to have a competitive advantage over their competitors, they must invest in upgrading the workforce's skills. Healthcare being in the service industry depends on employees' abilities to remain relevant and competitive. The healthcare environment is ever-changing, and patients search for quality service, hence driving upskill healthcare providers. Artificial intelligence and digital therapeutics are significant technological advancements in healthcare that are of concern (Ross, 2019). Most new technologies, such as medical devices and digital therapeutics products, have been validated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), making upskilling an urgent issue (Siwicki, 2019). Organizations need to treat upskilling as an acute and vital stressor for their survival.

Two Articles on Upskilling of Healthcare Workers

Rimmer, A. (2018). Upskill doctors to make the most of new medical technologies, report says. BMJ, 361(k2861).

The article acknowledges doctors as crucial in enabling quality healthcare service; however, they need to undergo frequent additional training to cope with emerging healthcare technologies for them to be successful. It focuses on doctors who serve almost the same roles as nurses. Hence nurses as well need upskilling to be successful in their roles. Areas such as genomics, artificial intelligence algorithms, and digital literacy are critical for doctors to be upskilled. Similarly, the above technological issues are essential for nurses to undergo training for better productivity. The articles stress the importance of training healthcare workers to adopt new technologies and implement improved service quality. New healthcare technologies will keep on emerging, which require healthcare organizations always to set aside resources to train and upgrade the workforce regularly.

Fralic, M.F. (2013). Upskilling for new-era healthcare: Lessons from high impact readings. Nurse Leader, 11(4).

The American healthcare system is described to be undergoing change that is fundamental and monumental (Fralic 2013). The article emphasizes the need for healthcare organizations to re-strategize and re-organize to adapt to quality healthcare delivery changes. Re-strategizing and re-organize mean the workforce need upskilling to be updated and implement the emerging healthcare technologies. The article states upskilling as the trending approach adopted by many organizations to keep doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals effective and productive. For quality and safe patient care, upskilling is vital.

Strategies to Address the Organizational Impact of Upskilling

Continuous change in the healthcare sector renders upskilling in healthcare organizations inevitable. Therefore, it is appropriate for institutions to develop strategies that address the organizational impact on retraining. Three approaches can be helpful to solve the stressor. The first strategy is introducing the technologies gradually to give room to train the workforce and fully adapt to the change (Fralic, 2013). The second strategy is making upskilling a policy initiative for the organization. It will align the retraining of workers with the goals of the organization. Upskilling should help in achieving the goals or mission of the healthcare facility (Rimmer, 2018). The third strategy is including upskilling as a regular expense of the organization. It will enable the organization to budget for the retraining of employees properly (Teague, 2019). Since upskilling will remain mandatory, the strategies will positively impact my organization by having a competitive advantage. The negative side is that there is a consumption of organizational resources.

References

Fralic, M.F. (2013). Upskilling for new-era healthcare: Lessons from high impact readings. Nurse Leader, 11(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2013.05.008

Rimmer, A. (2018). Upskill doctors to make the most of new medical technologies, report says. BMJ, 361(k2861). https://www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k2861

Ross, J.R. (2019). Upskilling could be an ideal treatment for healthcare’s employment woes. Retrieved 4 March 2020 from https://www.cardiovascularbusiness.com/topics/healthcare-economics/upskilling-could-be-ideal-rx-healthcares-employment-woes

Siwicki, B. (2019). Here are 6 major issues facing healthcare in 2019, according to PwC. Healthcare ITNews. Retrieved 4 March 2020 from https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/here-are-6-major-issues-facing-healthcare-2019-according-pwc

Teague, T. (2019). Will healthcare employees need to be upskilled or reskilled as technology advances? Retrieved 4 March 2020 from https://www.whatisbluesky.com/blog/will-healthcare-employees-need-to-be-upskilled-or-reskilled-as-technology-advances