In medical facilities nowadays, there is a scarcity of experienced and highly competent specialists. Hence, entrepreneurs and top managers look for ways to improve the knowledge and abilities of existing employees, as well as newcomers, if they require specialization, and to seek, attract, and locate actual experts in their field. Conducting customized trainings for medical workers is an excellent way to achieve this goal. Employees usually agree to go through trainings if firm managers deem it necessary. Less prosperous people, on the other hand, have the ability to advance professionally. The training topics are devoted to the most relevant aspects of business management and include problems of financial management in a medical institution, issues related to the promotion of medical services, and the management of medical personnel. It is important and can be effective, but only if employees really want to develop. This paper aims at provision and explanation of the training program for medical personnel.
Key words: education, training, skills, specialists.
Employee Training Program
Education for medical workers is quite specific, since it requires special knowledge and skills and without them an aspirant would not be able to work. High competition in the sphere of medical services constantly forces management to seek new ways of promoting and developing the institution. The main and most reliable of them is improving the quality of services provided through the proper organization of the work of medical personnel. However, it is unattainable without qualified and experienced employees who are the guarantor of the company’s prosperity. Training of medical personnel is aimed at optimizing work and improving its professional qualities (Siu et al., 2016). Therefore, employees would be able to offer patients more detailed information about services, quality service, which in turn will improve the reputation of the clinic as customer-oriented.
There are separate programs for training medical personnel, focused on employees of medical institutions, such as administrators, marketing specialists, and collectives in general, as well as doctors, for instance. Such a highly specialized approach allows achieving a better result that would certainly positively affect the work of the company as a whole. In the field of providing medical services, the professionalism of every employee is important, even without medical education. Proper management of medical personnel is of particular importance. It would allow coordinating the work of the whole institution, creation of a strong team and improvement of the quality of services (Zervopoulos Siomos et al., 2016). It would also improve leadership skills, teach management and management techniques.
Timelines and Approaches
Additional training of medical personnel should last from two weeks to several months, depending on the goals. To ensure successful activity, it is not enough to invest in the material component; it is also necessary to invest a lot in the qualification of employees. To do it, the company should build a training system. The first step is to carefully select candidates at the stage of recruiting, objectively evaluating their knowledge and skills. In the process of adaptation to clarify the needs of beginners in training, timely improve the skills of staff. Without a clear, informative and accessible adaptation program, newcomers would not be able to reach the required level of labor productivity soon, and use their knowledge and skills in the workplace.
The processes of selection, adaptation and training, by and large, are the links of an indissoluble chain of improving the quality of personnel (Raisinghani, 2008). This issue should be solved jointly by employees of the HR department and heads of the company’s structural divisions. In the process of training, employees are trained precisely in those professional skills that are necessary in the company, taking into account its specifics. Theoretical knowledge and practical skills are passed by professionals, who have proved their qualifications and success.
The Main Goals
Without understanding by the medical institution of personnel’s motivation, there is no point to develop and evolve. Not having a clear definition of objectives, training loses its focus and meaningfulness. The main objectives of this training program are to achieve the quality of work of personnel and a higher level of productivity, reduce losses and costs in the process of professional activity of employees. Additionally, the level of labor motivation of staff would increase, improving the commitment of employees of their organization and developing mutual understanding between staff and top-management, as well as the formation of values and attitudes among learners that support the strategy and goals of the medical organization (Gildersleeve, 1999).
The objectives of training and education are the organization and formation of management personnel, mastering the ability to identify, understand and solve problems, as well as reproduction and staff integration. From an employee’s point of view, the goals of vocational education are maintaining at the appropriate level and increase professional qualifications and acquire professional knowledge outside the professional sphere, which is also important for unexpected situations. The tasks of personnel training presuppose the improvement of existing skills and the mastering of new skills, more complex works, the mastering of new technology and technology, the study of the most rational methods based on the experience of advanced production, the achievement of quality indicators, the mastering of new methods and methods of labor and its organization. At the same time, the subject of training is theoretical, methodical and practical knowledge, as well as the ability and ability to perform all duties at the highest level.
Stages of personnel training include preparation, advanced training and retraining. The first stage implies systematic and organized learning and practicing and the production of qualified personnel for all areas of human activity, possessing a set of special knowledge, skills, and ways of communication. Advanced training is the training that aims at improvement of employees’ abilities due to the growth of requirements for the profession or promotion. Retraining is the mastery of a set of new skills in connection with the mastery of a new profession or the changed requirements for the content and results of labor.
The Method
Coaching is a method that will be used in this training for medical staff. It is a type of supervision, and one of the areas of modern psychological and business counseling, which implies motivation and training of the individual to acquire new skills and qualities (De Haan, 2012). It is a synthesis of methods of individual psychological counseling, socio-psychological training and traditional mentoring of experienced specialists on young people. It is important to understand and assume that skills can be taught and developed through coaching (Team FME, 2013). Thus, the task of the coach is to encourage the colleague to take independent actions, help him or her to achieve certain results on his or her own. It is assumed that the mentor only helps to find his or her own solution to the problem, and does not solve the problem for the employee.
The essence of coaching lies in the special nature of the relationship in the assimilation of new knowledge, skills and experience. In the medical field, this is especially important, since this profession implies not only physical and mental treatment, but also work with people. As a result of coaching, the potential of each of the parties actually increases, that is, along with the target result of coaching for the trainee. There is a personal and professional development of the instructor. The center of interaction in coaching is certainly communication. For both sides, but for the coach in particular, it is necessary to use the competent assertive application of developed communicative skills. That is, active listening, mutual pronouncing of feelings and expectations, asking specially designed questions, motivating feedback. Such communication is an excellent means of personal growth, not to mention the achievement of coaching goals. Creating a productive emotional atmosphere of relationships in coaching is the main condition for its success.
The method of case solving is an appropriate approach for effective personnel training, depending on each specific position of employees (Moore, 1979). It consists of considering practical situations in which a group of employees analyzes and discusses a real or possible situation related to their immediate activities. This approach allows people to be pushed to alternative, non-standard thinking. Each participant here has the right to express their own opinion and correlate it with the opinion of others. However, in this case, a very highly qualified teacher is needed, which makes training more costly.
In order to assemble new ideas, the approach of brainstorming was chosen. One of its main principles is to offer as many options as possible in a short time. Under stress, the brain, as a rule, starts feverishly generating ideas, albeit not in all, but many ideas may contain a rational grain. The method helps to liberate even the most indecisive employees, to teach people to listen to someone else’s opinion. This method works like this: an employee discard decisions that seem too bold to him, fearing criticism, ridicule on the part of colleagues and superiors. If these conventionalities are removed, then it is possible to increase the number of new ideas. The algorithm involves selecting a group of up to 5-10 people. The participants are told the problem to be solved. It is necessary to correctly formulate the problems at the input. To do it, a 15-minute introduction to the problem and a clear statement of the purpose of the group’s work is necessary. It is preferable that all participants receive them in writing. The next step is brainstorming itself, the task of which is to get as many ideas as possible.
Materials
As training in the workplace, industrial training is often used. Coming to a new place of work, or getting acquainted with innovations, employees receive general information about the work ahead. It is useful for the staff to rotate temporarily, that is, when one employee replaces another. Therefore, he gets an idea of the multifaceted activities of the company, in some cases understanding of one process gives impetus to improve their own activities. As for technical equipment, chairs will be necessary for training, by the number of participants, sheets of paper and ballpoint pens for keeping notes.
Budget Planning
At the heart of the formation of the budget for training are the goals and objectives of the medical institution. In this case, it is an improvement in the level of communication skills of employees, as well as increased motivation and, as a result, quality of services. A big role in this process is played by company executives, concretizing the request for training their units and teams. Budget planning initially occurs in a limited budget. The costs of training activities are made up of direct and associated ones. Direct costs will be paid for the work of teachers, that is, coaches or consultants, as well as the preparation of handouts, i.e. slides, video films and computer programs. Associated costs will be used for renting premises and equipment, consumables, travel, accommodation, meals and employees.
Rationale
Such training for medical personnel is a very good and effective approach for improving the level of service in institutions in terms of interaction with clients. As it was said before, three methods were used: case study, brainstorming and coaching. The use of case studies is justified, since it “immerses” workers in certain conditions and provides an opportunity to independently find a solution. It would allow them to feel experienced and the quality of work will improve. Brainstorming has a similar effect, as it stimulates brain activity. Coaching is also a good approach for trainings, as medical staff will have the opportunity to consider their merits and mistakes, and the mentor will explain it all carefully. Every health care worker needs to remember that he or she is providing services, and the buyer pays for them. A real doctor must be able to be client-oriented. Trainings for doctors are adapted to each specific clinic, and to the level of skills of specific doctors, as well as other categories of medical personnel.
References
De Haan, Erik. (2012). Supervision in action: A relational approach to coaching and consulting supervision. London, UK: McGraw-Hill Education, Open University Press.
Gildersleeve, Rich. (1999). Winning business: How to use financial analysis and benchmarks to outscore your competition. Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing Company.
Moore, R.J. (1979). A case study approach to training needs analysis. Journal of European Industrial Training, 3(6), 9-13.
Raisinghani, M.S. (2008). Handbook of research on global information technology management in the digital economy. Hershey, NY: Information Science Reference.
Siu, K.C., Best, B.J., Kim, J. W., Oleynikov, D. & Ritter, F.E. (2016). Adaptive virtual reality training to optimize military medical skills acquisition and retention. Military Medicine, 181(5), 214-220.
Team FME. (2013). Principles of coaching: Coaching skills. Retrieved from http://www.eefam.gr/assets/files/library/libraryone/coaching-principles_30112014.pdf.
Zervopoulos Siomos, M., Bavis, M.P., Swartwout, K., Danko, K., & Delaney, K.R. (2016). Nurse practitioner training with the underserved: Building a skilled workforce. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 12(2), e37-e43.
