Personalized Learning Is The Missing Ingredient In Nurse Retention

Are you overlooking the impact of career development in nursing? If so, it could be damaging your ability to retain your nurses and rescue your P&L.

Many hospitals and home health organizations do an excellent job of training nurses on technical topics: medication management, EMR charting, wound care, etc. Of course, this type of training is essential for delivering a great patient experience.

But many nurses want more; they want learning opportunities that will help them prepare for management roles and map out the next steps in their careers. At BrettonTrova, our team brings decades of experience in healthcare staffing, recruitment and career development – to nurses. These years of real-world exposure have taught us that nurses crave upskilling and leadership training.

So what’s the best way to implement initiatives for nursing career development? We advocate for a personalized learning approach for nurses. It’s a term that’s gaining prominence in the corporate world: 77% of L&D professionals think personalized learning is vital to employee engagement.

In the context of healthcare, personalized learning means:

1. Delivering the leadership and soft skill training that nurses want; and
2. Making that content available in a variety of formats so every nurse can access it, regardless of their learning style and preferences.

Health organizations that can provide these types of training — and offer them in a way that nurses can easily consume — will lay a foundation for higher nurse satisfaction and morale. With that comes a better patient experience and more demand for your services.

The Links Between Retention and Career Development In Nursing

There are over one million nursing job openings in the U.S. alone. As healthcare leaders know, competition for nurse talent is fierce. Your health organization should be seeking any and all programs that boost nurse recruitment and retention.

That’s why investing in the right learning and career development opportunities is key. Here’s how personalized learning opportunities can increase nurse satisfaction:

• Avoiding burnout: Training nurses on leadership skills can help them feel more comfortable when facing adversity and avoid burnout — one of the key drivers of nursing staff churn.
• Putting nurses in the “driver’s seat”: By giving nurses input on the content and formats they prefer, you’re showing that you’re invested in helping them grow and develop a career path.
• “Recruiting from within” by developing the next wave of leaders: Leadership churn becomes less damaging when you’re preparing your internal staff to eventually step into management roles.

How to Deliver Personalized Learning for Nurses

So what exactly does personalized learning look like in the context of healthcare? Here’s an introduction:

Focus on Delivering the Content That Nurses Want…

Health organizations generally do a good job of teaching nurses the skills they need to deliver a great patient experience on a daily basis.

What’s missing is the leadership and soft skill training: how to balance a budget, have a tough conversation, fire someone, etc. You can go to a community college and take Management 101, but the content is going to be very generic and not tailored for a hospital environment. Nurses need something more contextual. This type of L&D helps nurses prepare themselves for career advancement and keep them engaged.

…In A Way That Fits Their Learning Preferences.

Studies show that personalized learning can lead to greater achievement and growth, so why not set your nurses up for success?

Not every form of training needs to be conducted on-site or on the clock. CNOs and other healthcare leaders can empower nurses to pursue training on their own.

People learn in different ways. Some like to listen to podcasts on the way to work. Others like to read on Sunday mornings. It’s important for hospital leaders to be aware of how their nurses like to learn and give them options that fit their schedules and lifestyles. This is the essence of personalized learning.

Resources for Nurse Learning and Development

“Are we providing the right learning and development opportunities for our nursing staff?”

If you’re a leader in a hospital or home health organization, it’s very important to ask this question.

Healthcare leaders looking for operational expertise to bolster their organizations’ learning and career development opportunities should contact the team at BrettonTrova.

We specialize in helping hospitals and home health organizations build sustainable staffing models. Our team leverages our decades of healthcare staffing experience to help organizations outsource nurse recruitment and lay the groundwork for a culture that promotes retention.

Another core part of our strategy is providing personalized learning opportunities for career development in nursing. We can give you the learning on the topics they have asked for, in the ways they want to consume it. Stay tuned for news about our upcoming learning and development initiatives, which are custom-built to help your organization meet the L&D needs of your staff. Reach out to our team to learn more!