Leadership Training And Development In Healthcare

Topic 2: Leadership Training and Development in Healthcare Name Institution Topic 2: Leadership Training and Development in Healthcare Effective leadership in healthcare is imperative as it enhances the delivery of quality and patient-centered care. Leaders are responsible for facilitating change within organizations and the industry at large so as to improve the quality and delivery of care. As revealed by Frich, Brewster, Cherlin, and Bradley (2015), leadership is critical in enhancing the performance of a healthcare system. This is especially important given that the healthcare system is often changing, as revealed by (Rogers, 2012), and the changes require an adaptive response. As such, leadership training and development in healthcare has received considerable attention from scholars and researchers as well as practitioners so as to facilitate effective leadership. This paper examines some of the approaches that can be used in training and preparing leaders in the healthcare profession. In addition, the paper addresses the drivers and barriers in the implementation of these approaches while considering the drawbacks that arise from adopting the approaches. Leadership Preparation Approaches in Healthcare Leadership preparation is an essential key in effective leadership. Healthcare professionals cannot take up leadership roles and succeed unless they have been well equipped. As a result, a number of approaches have been integrated into leadership development programs in an attempt to close the gap in the preparation of healthcare leaders. One of the approaches that have gained support through research is the competency-based training (CBT) method. According to Hargett, et al. (2017), identifying the major leadership competencies in healthcare is essential in preparing healthcare professionals for leadership roles. Competency-based leadership training, thus, prepares leaders based on what is required for them to lead teams that work under a lot of pressure due to time constraints. As revealed by Hargett, et al. (2017), focusing on leadership competencies as an approach to leadership training and development is effective because the learning process is continuous and based on relevancy within a healthcare set-up. More importantly, CBT often focuses on the needs and as such, healthcare professionals are able to learn by concentrating on competencies that are most important within any given role. This saves healthcare professionals’ time in the sense that they only concentrate on value-adding training instead of a general leadership training program. The advantage of CBT programs is that they can be both school-based and institutional-based. Sonnino (2016) reveals that this training approach has been used in residency programs as well as in medical school. The adoption of a CBT program in medical schools is especially promising because leaders in healthcare will be prepared early in their career path, giving them time to learn and identify their strengths and weaknesses based on the identified leadership competencies. In addition, the CBT program also provides students in the healthcare field with a smooth transition into the real world because they already understand the leadership aspects and competencies that are crucial. Con...