It’s no secret that healthcare professionals must complete a long and rigorous academic education in order to successfully find a position. Whether we’re talking about nurses, doctors, nurse practitioners, or other healthcare professionals, it’s necessary for them to complete at least one–if not more–advanced degree, licence exam, and or certification before then can even begin to achieve their career goals.
It’s been said over and over that professional development is essential for healthcare professionals to land the positions they want and grow their careers, but how does one go about achieving this development? Keep reading to learn more about what professional development looks like in the healthcare field and how training offered by Glendale Community College in Montrose can help you find it.
What Is Professional Development, Anyway?
Before we get too far into the discussion of why professional development is important in healthcare, let’s clarify the question of what it actually is. The simplest way to define professional development in any field, is the learning of new skills. Although your college education, medical school, residency or other academic experience may have taught you a lot of things about how to execute your job, the healthcare field is constantly changing. Without regular professional development, it’s possible that your skill set may become as obsolete as that iPod gathering dust in your closet! To overcome the challenges of working in a dynamic industry, healthcare professionals must make the learning of new skills a priority.
Reasons To Invest In Professional Development
The simple answer to this question is that you can only excel at your job if you have the skills you need to do so. Think about that outdated iPod. It seemed like the pinnacle of audio technology at the time, but now, we can have other technologies that can do the same job, if not better.
“A recent study published in The Lancet found that a 10% increase in the number of degree-educated nurses employed in hospitals resulted in a 7% decrease in the likelihood of an inpatient dying within 30 days of undergoing a common surgery,” reports Internursejobs.com. “The findings of the research were welcomed by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which stated ‘the demands of modern health care mean that this must be backed up by a higher level of education so that patients, who often have complex needs, receive skilled and compassionate care.”
This research only focused on professional development in one healthcare profession, but the significant impact it produced translates across fields.
Ways To Develop New Professional Skills
So now that you understand more about why professional development is important for your healthcare career, let’s discuss exactly how you go about building it.
- Read – This is by far the easiest way to keep a finger on the pulse of professional development in your field. Subscribe to trade publications, research journals, and other publications that are able to capture and communicate the trends that matter to you and your peers.
- Write – Did you enjoy writing papers and conducting research while in medical school? Publishing your own peer-reviewed articles is a great way to develop as a professionals, expand your writing skills, and establish yourself as an expert in a particular subject matter.
- Network – Attend conferences, lectures, and workshops that will expose you to the latest and greatest practices in your field. Doing so also provides a valuable opportunity for you to meet and network with your peers. This could quickly become long-term, knowledge-sharing relationships.
- Enroll – If, through your reading and networking, you’ve identified a new skill or topic in which that you’d like to develop proficiency, the best way to do so is through professional development classes such as those offered by the PDC of Glendale Community College in Montrose.
Ready to get started? Browse our courses and enroll today!