Celebrate National Nurses Week 2019 with a Renewed Focus on Training and Continuing Education

April 1, 2021
April 1, 2021

As the healthcare community gears up for Nurses Week 2019, May 6 through 12, it’s the perfect time to focus on these remarkable professionals. Without their dedication to patient care and willingness to go the extra mile for both patients and colleagues, no healthcare facility could operate. The perfect way to honor and celebrate their passion is to thank them, most certainly, and also to see how to make their lives easier and careers more fulfilling.

One way to do that is through workplace enrichment opportunities. Ensuring nurses have the tools to success is vital. Healthcare as a business and a profession continues to change and evolve, so education is key. That can come in the form of continuing education on everything from policies and procedures, to new methodologies for treatment, to how to collect and use bedside data to provide predictive, accurate patient care and improve outcomes.

Utilizing new science to change longtime procedures

For instance, consider resuscitation. Every nurse has been trained on this vital lifesaving measure, but how often do they update that training — or explore advances in the process? New research is pointing providers toward an interval-based approach, which is showing significant improvements in outcomes. HealthStream’s training, in partnership with the American Red Cross, increases resuscitation competency for the entire caregiver staff, not just nurses, benefiting the entire enterprise.

Growing the next generation of nursing leaders

As nursing continues to diverge in terms of practice specialization, leadership training also is becoming more important — and advanced. A nurse who is eyeing a career path in ICU care, for instance, will have different duties than one who wants to be in the NICU. Even so, both will need foundational skill sets around both their daily activities as well as support should they opt to move into supervisory and management positions. HealthStream’s Clinical Development Suite stands ready to support them, and others in both the patient and operational settings, as they work to advance their own careers.

Training must be flexible to be effective

Whether it’s remedial training, continuing education or a program designed to build and enhance leadership skills, training must be adaptable. What one hospital or healthcare system deems crucial might be of less focus to another, based on what the most pressing needs are.

That’s why flexibility is key to any training platform. HealthStream has built a learning platform and curated a library of more than 20,000 courses for nurses and other caregivers. Those can be pulled together in different configurations to create customized content that will help advance the skill sets of the entire care team while also supporting operational needs and performance goals.

As we celebrate Nurses Week, it’s a good time take a look at what educational tools are in place to support nurses as they cope with a demanding, rapidly changing workplace. Assessing those needs and creating a training and continuing education that works both now and in the future will pay significant dividends in terms of employee satisfaction, improved patient outcomes and overall strong facility or enterprise performance