Skills Gap in Nursing
Nursing and clinical nursing roles in healthcare are becoming more complex in recent years. The gap is widening between not only skills to administer care but also an understanding of how their actions contribute to the provider’s outcomes.
With the advent of the patient-centric new medicine approach, nurses are in the forefront of healthcare and a vital element of the provider’s efficiency and reputation.
This evolving healthcare landscape has its own unique challenges. For example the USA the AACN (American Assoc. of Colleges of Nursing) developed the clinical nurse leader (CNL) role in 2003. This became a new nursing occupation and the Association laid out 7 competencies for clinical nurse leaders.
The clinical nurse leader now plays a pivotal role in implementing new strategies, co-ordinating care and leading change. However, research has shown that there is a lack of soft skills and technology acumen required in this role. Providers are assessing their training programs and looking to best practices to ensure staff are equipped to manage these challenges.
Clinical Nursing Leader Role
The role is designed in two parts. The first is to bring a generalist perspective to particular clinical areas and a specialist lens to process improvement, efficiency, and management. They coordinate care within a discrete unit, integrate technology and innovation in healthcare approaches providing care to patients in complex situations.
Additional Training Required to Close Skills Gap
The range of skills needed to excel in this position has resulted in a skills gap for many clinical nursing leaders such as soft management skills and technology knowledge.
Since the introduction of the clinical nurse leader in 2003 in the US, the healthcare industry has undergone transformation, and is rapidly introducing integrative technologies into its operations. In 2009 electrical medical records – EMRs were introduced and providers deployed considerable digital technology into their operations. For example the advent of new technologies increased use of tablets, wearable devices and sensors, changing patient intake to monitoring and treatment regimens.
The introduction of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Obamacare) placed greater emphasis on efficiency, costs and patient outcomes. Change strategies included outcome based payment structure with patients having more control over their care choices as clinical nurse leaders become the centre of many of these issues.
Clinical nurse leaders are now also expected to be lead change agents, communicating new processes and protocols, connecting care delivery to provider’s goals, and administering training programs for nurses.
Top Clinical Nurse Leaders’Skills Gaps
With advent of changes in health-care delivery and providers’ protocols, assessing skills gap and providing training has never been more critical.
1. Inter-professional collaboration skills
2. Technology expertise
3. Project management leadership skills
1. Inter-professional Collaboration
Inter-professional collaboration skills require clinical nurse leaders to gain understanding and appreciation of healthcare team members roles and contributions to other team members. Research shows a shortage of soft management skills such as listening, teamwork, and conflict resolution. There is a lack of focus on soft skills in many healthcare curriculum indicating a shortfall in this area.
2. Technology Skills
With the focus on application of data, analytics, evaluation methods to support operational requirements, patient diagnosis and monitoring, the rapid changes in new technologies requires understanding how to apply them to support care delivery. There is a skills gap in the level of expertise and process improvement knowledge required.
3. Project Management Leadership Skills
With rapid complex changes emerging, skills deficit in the healthcare industry project management leadership skills across function and strategy is emerging.
New Requirements in Healthcare Delivery
As the need for inter-professional collaboration and technology skills increase, providers will be faced with shortfall in key staff areas that present fundamental challenges for healthcare providers and employees.
Healthcare management is turning to different healthcare delivery models of medicine to include shift workforce and other process redesign and efficiency improvements. This means clinicians who are seeking effective training programs may look to other industries for inspiration. Another example in technology is looking to mirror technological companies that use software tools to gain greater efficiency in their operations.
Holistic Approach
By addressing these skills gaps in a holistic approach to ensure clinical nurse leaders gain soft skills not only in inter-professional collaboration but also in technology, process redesign and management. This way providers ensure investment in their training delivers expected outcomes. not only for nurses at all levels but the patients they care for.
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