Trinity University of Asia

Graduate School
Master of Arts in Nursing

A report on
STAFF DEVELOPMENT

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the

Course NU 231
Concepts and Theories of Advanced Nursing Administration

Submitted By:

Kristine Edica Clara

Submitted To:

Dr. Lydia A. Cabigao

December 14, 2010

 Introduction

The staff’s knowledge level and capabilities are a major factor in determining the
number of staff required to carry out unit goals. The better trained and more competent
the staff, the fewer staff required. Staff development is a cost effective method of
increasing productivity.

Education and training are two components of staff development that occur after
an employee’s indoctrination. They may occur either within or outside the organization.
Early staff development emphasized orientation and in service training. Management
development, certification classes, and continuing education courses to meet relicensure
requirements are now a part of many staff development programs.

What is Staff Development?

Staff development refers to the processes, programs and activities through which
every organization develops, enhances and improves the skills, competencies and overall
performance of its employees and workers.
Staff development goes beyond orientation. It is a continuing liberal education of
the whole person to develop the individual’s potential fully. It promotes aesthetic
sensibilities as well as providing technical and professional training and may include
orientation, preceptorships, mentorships, skill checklists, internships, in service
education, continuing education, courses, conferences, seminars, journal or book clubs,
programmed learning, computer modules, independent study, formal education, refresher
courses, and career development.
Nurse Managers play an important role in the support of staff development and
have a responsibility to review the goals of the staff development program and to provide
a budget for development activities. They can engage in coaching by sharing ideas and
telling stories about what it takes to succeed. They invest in relationships and plan stretch
goals collaboratively with staff. They participate in needs identification and analyze how
education effects change in nursing service. They then develop doable projects and
actions to deal with the identified needs, delegate tasks to people according to their
interests and talents, and provide feedback.
In addition, they must be careful to differentiate staff development needs from
administrative needs. If staff nurses know how to do a procedure properly but do not do it
because the necessary supplies and equipments are not available to them, the need is
administrative rather than educational. Nursing managers are legally liable for the quality
of nursing services. Their ability to document staff development provides strong
supportive evidence for them. Employee receptiveness to staff development efforts
depends largely on the reward system developed. Positive reinforcement through
recognition, such as oral praise on the unit or acknowledgement of accomplishments in a
newsletter, is useful. Staff development can also be linked to retention, pay raises,
advancement to other positions. The novice to expert theory can be used to guide staff
development.
Staff development Model
• Preceptorship
Preceptorships may be used to help recruit, retain, orient, and develop staff. They
may be used before students graduate to orient them to the agency and to recruit them for
hire. If students have worked at an agency before graduation and are familiar with it, they
can make more sound decisions about where to work, are not as likely to be unprepared
for the work situation, and consequently are likely to be retained longer. The
Preceptorships also gives agency personnel an opportunity to evaluate students and
determine if they are suitable candidates for employment.
During Preceptorship, faculty members facilitate, monitor, and evaluate student
learning. Faculty members direct students to resources, offer suggestions regarding
patient care problems, and lead discussions at conferences.
The preceptor is responsible for the quality of patient care and facilitates the students
learning. They help students learn skills and learn how to organize their work. They
provide real life experiences for students before graduation to help reduce the difficulties
of transition from school to work.
The Preceptorships allows students to use and augment their knowledge and skills so
they can assume increasing responsibilities. They gain experience with a variety of
patients and different level of staff. Preceptorships are a potential recruitment tool for the
agency and can increase the job satisfaction of nurses.
There are also disadvantages to Preceptorships. They add to staff nurses’
responsibilities and require time. Some busy nurses have little time to spend with
students. It becomes difficult for faculty members to evaluate students because they have
little direct observation of the students work.
The preceptor model can also be used by the staff development department for nurses
after a graduate has been hired. The staff development faculty may present formal content
in orientation and development programs that is reinforced by preceptors on the units.
Preceptors can also be used for succession planning as nurse’s progress through their
careers. Recruitment and retention of well qualified nurses provides a return on
investment that can be used to justify the costs of recruitment and retention efforts.
• Mentorships
Mentors give their time, energy, and material support to teach, guide, assist, counsel,
and inspire other nurses. It is a nurturing relationship that cannot be forced. Close, trusted
counselors, usually in their forties or fifties, acquaint younger nurses, with the values,
customs, and resources of the profession. The mentor is a confidant who personalizes role
modeling and serves as a sounding board for decisions. The mentor is a resource person
who supports the development of the younger person through influence and promotion.
Phases of the Mentoring Process
A. Invitational Stage
Mentor uses time and energy to nurture a younger professional who is goal
directed, willing to learn, and respectfully trusting of mentor.
B. Questioning Stage
Mentored individual experiences self doubt and questions goals. Mentor helps
clarify goals and provides guidance.
C. Transitional Stage
Mentor helps younger professional personalize learning and become aware of own
strengths and uniqueness. Mentored individual is now prepared to be a mentor.

Staff Development Process

I Needs Assessment
The first step in staff development is a needs assessment for an educational program.
Too often, staff development programs are initiated simply because they have been
advertised and marketed, because they have been done in the past, or because other
organizations have offered them. Because only educational institutions can legitimately
view education as an end in itself, health care organizations must justify how an
educational activity can achieve an organizational goal, such as better patient care,
reduced operating costs, or more efficient or satisfied personnel. Systematic
determination of educational needs based on organizational goals can be used as a basis
for developing specific content. In this way, staff development programs are used in the
most cost-effective and efficient manner.
The decision to offer educational programs should be based on teaching behaviors
that:
1. Can be made more effective and efficient by educational efforts.
2. Need maintenance.
3. New employees need to learn.
4. Employees who are transferred or promoted need to learn.
 5. Are needed as a result of new evidence for practice or new technology.
II Planning
After needs have been determined the next step is to plan staff programs. Planning isa
four stage processes that includes establishing objectives, evaluating the present situation
and predicting future trends and events, formulating a planning statement, and converting
the plan into an action statement. It entails identifying learner objectives and matching
them with educational methods. Learner objectives, like client outcomes, should be
specific, measurable statements abut desired behaviors, skills, or knowledge to be
acquired within a specific time frame. The strategy used to affect the desired outcome
should be based on learning needs, the employee, and available resources.
Three main questions should be considered in assessing and planning:
• Can the learner do what is required?
• How should the staff development program be arranged to facilitate learning?
• What can be done to ensure that what is learned will be transferred to the job?
III Implementation
Implementation involves bringing together educators, learners, and the materials and
methods needed for education. Although most staff development is carried out by the
staff development or education department, staff development is also a unit
responsibility.
Staff Development Methods
Staff development can be divided into internal (on the unit) and external (off the
unit) sources. Internal sources include on the job instruction, workshops for staff, and in
service programs. External sources are formal workshops presented by an education
department within the hospital and educational activities outside the hospital, including
college courses, conferences, web-based learning, and continuing education workshops.
For effective adult education, the student needs, at a minimum:
1. material to be presented
2. practice using new knowledge and/ or skill
3. feedback about performance
• On the Job Instructions
The most widely used educational method is on-the-job instruction. This often involves
assigning new employees to experienced nurse peers, preceptors, or the nurse manager.
The learner is expected to learn the job by observing the experienced employee and by
performing the actual tasks under supervision.
Advantages:
a. Cost effective.
b. It reduces the need for outside instructional facilities and reliance on professional
educators.
Disadvantages:
a. It often fails because there is no assuarance that accurate and complete
information is presented, and the on the job instructor may not know learning
principles. As a result, presentation, practice, or feedback may be adequate or
omitted.
• Other Educational Techniques
Many organizations are using self learning modules, such as online classes, closed
circuit television, computerized clinical instructions, interactive video instruction,
satellite broadcasts (some of which are interactive), CD’s, DVD’s, and long distance
learning via cable television.
These methods allow an instructor to convey information in a uniform manner on
several occasions or at several locations at one time; many lessons can be repeated. These
methods can enhance the instructor’s presentation as well as reduce the need for an
instructor to present every detail in person.

IV Evaluation
Evaluation is an investigative process to determine whether the education was cost
effective, the objective was achieved, and learning was applied to the job. Educators
usually agree on the need for sound appraisal of educational programs, but they seldom
agree on the best method to do evaluation and rarely do empirical evaluation. Typically, a
program is initially reviewed at the corporate level before its implementation. The same
program is used over and over until someone in authority decides the program is no
longer useful or no longer effective or, more commonly, until attendance decreases.
The purpose of evaluation is to determine whether the educational program has a
positive effect on day to day operating problems and to identify elements of the program
that need improvement. Designing sound evaluation tools is difficult and costly, though
necessary.
 Four evaluation criteria should be used:
1. Learner reaction
2. Learning acquired
3. Behavior change
4. Organizational impact
The objective of many staff development programs can be expressed in terms of
organizational impact, such as reduced turnover, fewer grievances, reduced absenteeism,
improved quality of care, and fewer accidents.

References

Books

Marquis B, Huston C. 2003. Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing:

theory and Application.4th ed. California. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins

Sullivan E, Decker P. 2009. Effective Leadership and Management in Nursing. 7th ed.
New jersey. Pearson Education, Inc

Tomey A.M. 2009. Guide to nursing management and leadership. 8th ed. Mosby Elsevier.

Electronic

http://www.outdoored.com/Community/wikis/articles/the-components-of-an-effective-
staff-development-system.aspx

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5059005_definition-staff-development.html

http://www.slideshare.net/RajeshwariSrinivasan/staff-development-programme