Importance of Employee Development and Continuing Education in Healthcare

1. Staying Current With Continuing Education

Employee development and continuing education are vital components of healthcare, ensuring that professionals remain competent, knowledgeable, and capable of providing high-quality patient care and efficient and effective administrative tasks. As you know, medicine and healthcare practices are constantly evolving. New research, treatments, and technologies emerge regularly. Continuing education helps healthcare professionals stay up to date with the latest developments, ensuring they provide the best and most effective care to patients.

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By participating in continuing education, healthcare workers can stay informed about the latest developments and apply this knowledge to improve revenue, operations, and patient outcomes. Medical research continuously uncovers new information about diseases, treatments, and patient care techniques. For these reasons, healthcare professionals must commit to being lifelong learners. Continuing education can be as simple as reading journal articles and listening to webinars to more formal or long-term education such as returning to college for an advanced degree or a specialized certification.

Healthcare professionals must also engage in continuing education to stay abreast of rapid technological advancements. This ensures they can effectively utilize new diagnostic tools, perform minimally invasive procedures, and understand personalized medicine approaches. Moreover, it allows them to efficiently utilize electronic health records, participate in telemedicine, and maintain a competitive edge by meeting industry standards and advancing their careers in a constantly evolving technological landscape.

2. Maintaining Licenses and Certifications

Many healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and allied health providers, hold licenses, credentials, or certifications that demonstrate their qualifications and expertise in their respective fields. In many situations, these credentials are required. These credentials often require regular renewal to ensure that professionals maintain up-to-date knowledge and skills, reflecting the latest advancements in medical science, technology, and patient care practices.

To maintain their licenses or certifications, many healthcare professionals are required to complete a specified number of continuing education (CE) credits, or units (CEUs), within a defined time period. These credits can be earned through various educational activities, such as courses, workshops, seminars, or conferences. The goal is to ensure that healthcare providers stay current with new research, treatment protocols, and industry standards. These requirements are often managed by a professional membership or licensing association.

Here are some examples of continuing education requirements for different healthcare professionals:

• Physicians (MDs and DOs): In the United States, doctors must complete continuing medical education (CME) to renew their medical licenses. For example, medical boards require doctors to complete 20 to 50 CME hours every 2 years, depending on the state, with a specific number of hours in certain areas such as ethics, patient safety, or medical law (Chiaravalloti, 2024).
• Nurses (RNs and LPNs)/LVNs: Registered nurses and licensed practical/vocational nurses often need to complete a certain number of CE credits to maintain their nursing licenses. For instance, many states require RNs to complete 30 hours of CE every 2 years. Specific continuing education (CE) requirements may also vary by specialty (e.g., nurse practitioners may have more specific requirements related to advanced practice) (Nurse.org, 2022).
• Pharmacists: Pharmacists are required to complete CE credits to maintain their licenses as well. The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) requires that pharmacists earn at least 30 hours of CE every 2 years, with some states having additional requirements, such as specific hours related to medication safety or immunization (Pharmacist and Technician Education, n.d.).
• Physical Therapists (PTs): Physical therapists are required to complete CE credits as part of their licensure renewal. For example, some states require PTs to complete 30 hours of CE every 2 years, with a portion dedicated to topics like ethics, legal issues, or advancements in physical therapy techniques (McDermott, 2019).
• Certified Medical Assistants (CMAs): Medical assistants who hold certification from organizations like the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) need to complete 60 CE credits every 5 years to maintain their certification (ACE, n.d.).
• Registered Health Information Technicians (RHITs): Health information professionals who hold a registered health information technician credential must earn 20 CEUs every 2 years. This credential and the continuing education is tracked by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA, n.d.).

EXAMPLE

In California, RNs are required to complete 30 hours of CE every 2 years as part of the license renewal process. These hours can be earned through a variety of educational activities, such as courses, webinars, or attending conferences. One of the 30 hours must be in the area of "nursing ethics" or "laws and regulations."

Most of the professional organizations who manage these credentials have a portal where the healthcare professional can log in and track their continuing education as they participate in a conference, webinar, class, or other valid provider of continuing education. There is typically a way to update proof of the continuing education experience. Each professional must keep track of their CE cycle and submit their final hours when they are due, and then their next CE cycle begins.

3. Professional Development

Professional development goes beyond continuing education and maintaining required credentials. Lifelong learning and professional growth are essential for healthcare professionals to provide the highest quality care to patients and to run an organization in the most efficient and effective way. However, professional growth goes beyond just keeping up with new information; it fosters critical thinking and confidence, improves decision-making skills, and encourages the development of leadership and interpersonal skills. As healthcare systems grow more complex, healthcare professionals need to adapt to changes in care models, patient demographics, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Professional development may also include some self-reflection and learning about what type of supervisor you are, or how you prefer to solve problems.

Lifelong learning also supports personal satisfaction and career advancement, as professionals are able to specialize in new areas, take on leadership roles, or explore new fields within healthcare. This type of professional development can help an organization keep a steady stream of staff who are working toward a new role, a promotion, or specialized expertise to improve their work. In addition, opportunities to learn and grow help to maintain or increase job satisfaction. This not only benefits the individual but also the organization, as it helps build a skilled and motivated workforce.

EXAMPLE

A nurse, Rosie, has been at City Hospital for 16 years and is getting bored with her job. She is also experiencing burnout and frustration. However, she does love the hospital and the people she works with. The nursing director recognizes that Rosie is less enthusiastic and seems unhappy at work. She talks with Rosie about a nursing informatics certificate she saw advertised at the local university and tells Rosie that she thinks she would be a great nursing trainer on their electronic health record system. The current EHR trainer in the department will be retiring next year. She reminds Rosie that the tuition reimbursement benefit would cover nearly the full cost of the program. Rosie is very interested, and for the first time is a bit excited about her future career. In the end, Rosie completes the certificate, the EHR trainer retires, and Rosie interviews for the position and accepts an offer for what she now considers her dream job!

The commitment to professional development is integral not only for maintaining professional competence but also for driving innovation, improving morale, developing the workforce, and increasing employee retention.

IN CONTEXT

Sarah, a medical assistant (MA), started her career in a primary care office and advanced through continuing education and professional development over the years, ultimately moving into leadership roles with additional certifications.

When Sarah first became a certified medical assistant (CMA) after completing an accredited training program and passing the certification exam, she focused on developing her skills in patient care, clinical procedures, and office management. After working in the primary care office for a few years, she recognized the need to stay ahead in a rapidly changing healthcare environment, so she took advantage of continuing education opportunities. She completed courses on topics like patient safety, medical office technology, and infection control, all while keeping her CMA certification current through the required CE credits.

As Sarah gained experience and furthered her education, she earned a specialization in phlebotomy, adding another certification to her qualifications. This opened up opportunities for her to work in a specialty clinic, where she became responsible for not only routine patient care but also more advanced clinical tasks like drawing blood and performing diagnostic tests. After several more years of professional growth, Sarah pursued a leadership development course, which allowed her to transition into an office management role. She also obtained a certified clinical medical assistant (CCMA) credential, expanding her qualifications to include supervisory skills, staff management, and training new medical assistants.

By continuing her education and pursuing certifications in various specialties and leadership, Sarah was able to move up from an entry-level medical assistant to a team lead and eventually an office manager, where she now oversees the operations of the clinic and mentors newer staff. This progression shows how continuing education and professional development can create pathways for growth, enabling healthcare professionals to expand their roles and contribute to the overall efficiency and quality of patient care.

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In healthcare, learning never stops. This video highlights why ongoing training and continuing education are essential—not just for individual growth, but for improving patient care, keeping up with advancements, and building stronger teams.

REFERENCES

ACE. (n.d.). Medical Assistant CEU Options and Requirements. annalsofcontinuingeducation.com/medical-assistant-ceu-options-and-requirements/#:~:text=Medical%20assistants%20under%20AAMA%20must,by%20combining%20any%20categories%20provided.

AHIMA. (n.d.) Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT). ahima.org/certification-careers/certifications-overview/rhit/

Chiaravarotti, D. (2024). CME Requirements for MD’s, PA’s, and NP’s. Board Vitals www.boardvitals.com/blog/md-pa-np-cme-requirements/?utm_term=&utm_campaign=Performance+Max+-+BoardReview&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&hsa_acc=3629361371&hsa_cam=16996727962&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&utm_content=april-flash&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqL28BhCrARIsACYJvkcF0Xzr2UtpHjUoPjx80DTmCnc70P_kCTeCwiA5wKgoKi4_WqObX6UaAnrOEALw_wcB

McDermott, E. (2019). Physical Therapist CEU Requirements by State. WebPT. www.webpt.com/blog/physical-therapist-ceu-requirements-by-state

Nurse.org. (2022). Nursing Continuing Education Requirements by State. nurse.org/resources/continuing-education/

Pharmacist and Technician Education. (n.d.). Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. www.acpe-accredit.org/pharmacist-and-technician-education/