To Ensure Quality Care for America, Let's Empower America's Health Workforce

The healthcare industry is rapidly changing as quality of patient care takes the forefront of hospital and healthcare evaluation and reimbursement measures, yet training and recruitment of healthcare professionals is falling behind.¹ Healthcare professionals are increasingly facing new and more complex challenges, requiring innovative training and education methods to address the growing rate of chronic conditions and complexity of patients. The time is now to take measures to inspire, support and empower our nation's healthcare professionals. Most importantly, nurses and hospital administrative staff.

As one of the fastest growing healthcare fields, the roles of trained nurses and hospital administration staff have grown exponentially in the past few years.² According to a recent University of Phoenix® College of Health Professions survey conducted by Harris Poll, the majority of registered nurses (81 percent) and hospital administration staff (78 percent) identify that the future of healthcare is in their hands.³ This rapid growth accommodates for the recent decline of primary care physicians in America.⁴ As such, nurses and administration staff are already being called upon to fill the gap and support providers in ensuring the highest level of patient care and satisfaction from patient admittance to discharge.⁵

According to the survey, over the past two years, healthcare professionals have felt their role expand in maintaining patients' emotional well-being (37 percent of registered nurses, 31 percent of staff) and overall patient care planning (49 percent, 35 percent)—yet only 31 percent of registered nurses indicate that they feel fully prepared to adapt to these changes.⁶

To support nurses and administrative staff, it is essential that these healthcare professionals feel prepared. When asked what skills would be essential for staying relevant in today's healthcare landscape, these professionals indicated problem-solving (76 percent registered nurses, 67 percent of staff) and customer service skills (72 percent, 71 percent), both of which are essential to providing top standards of patient-centered, quality care. Likewise, as we enter an increasingly digital age with electronic health records and health resources available online, 68 percent of administrative staff responded with a desire to learn more technology skills.⁷ Ensuring that all healthcare professionals receive hands-on training in these key areas can be essential to the success of tomorrow's healthcare leaders, as well as the continued quality care patients receive today.

Registered nurses and hospital administration staff agree, with the majority (90 percent, 88 percent) indicating that their facilities should focus on preparing them with leadership and management skills. Unfortunately, a smaller majority indicates that their facilities currently do a good job in preparing them for such (62 percent, 74 percent).⁸

University of Phoenix has designed programs to address these needs, offering curricula in areas of high demand, including courses and certificates in health information technology, health promotion and disease prevention to support healthcare professionals in remaining relevant and prepared for any health situation. One of the University's key learning goals is to address critical thinking in our curriculum to further empower and enhance student success. Part of this from a College of Health Professions perspective includes addressing patient service in our curriculum, and College leaders are continually discussing ways to further refine curriculum to address student needs.

Patients know the importance of well-trained and prepared staff, with 64 percent of recent patients in another University of Phoenix study indicating that proper training is the number one factor that impacts overall quality of care received.⁹ University of Phoenix is committed to ensuring healthcare professionals have access to relevant curriculum to help meet the growing and demanding needs of patients, and our School of Nursing and School of Health Services Administration have been working with industry partners and employers to provide students an education that is responsive to on-the-job demands.

We must never stop learning. With fewer doctors, duties of care have been redistributed, and patient quality of care must remain a priority.¹⁰ At the end of the day, we must not only prepare students to adapt in the face of developing trends, but equip them with the skills to make long-lasting improvements to our health system as a whole.

For more information about University of Phoenix programs, including on-time completion rates, the median debt incurred by students who completed the program and other important information, please visit: http://www.phoenix.edu/programs/gainful-employment.html.

Footnotes

1. _{http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK215407/#ddd00092}
2. _{http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2009/11/art5full.pdf}
3. _{The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of University of Phoenix between June 23–July 1, 2016, among 250 registered nurses and 253 healthcare administrative staff, who have worked in healthcare for two years or more. Each group was weighted to the full-time working population.}
4. _{Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2016-17 Edition, Physicians and Surgeons, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physicians-and-surgeons.htm}
5. _{http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/impact-of-education}
6. _{The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of University of Phoenix between June 23–July 1, 2016, among 250 registered nurses and 253 healthcare administrative staff, who have worked in healthcare for two years or more. Each group was weighted to the full-time working population.}
7. _Ibid.
8. _Ibid.
9. _{The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of University of Phoenix from June 23–27, 2016 among 2,022 U.S. adults aged 18 and older, 960 who identified as being a patient in the last three months. Figures for age, race/ethnicity, education, region, and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.}
10. _{https://www.aamc.org/download/426260/data/physiciansupplyanddemandthrough2025keyfindings.pdf}