No health professional wants to cause harm or make mistakes in their career. It’s the opposite intention of why they joined. But that doesn’t mean mistakes can’t happen, or systemic failures can’t contribute to that outcome. This is why those who oversee clinical environments and manage staff need to take a surgical view of their business operations and staff management, from the first moment of onboarding.
It’s very easy to handwave onboarding as a formal process. Of course, in some cases, it can be. Your staff member will undergo fire safety training, for example, but they won’t be expected to spend two weeks learning the intricacies of every responsibility, they’ll understand the streamlined policies and principles and what to do in an emergency, and then move on the next task when that knowledge has been verifiably understood.
So, where else could onboarding time be spent, and how could it be empowered to ensure that these policy decisions aren’t solely theoretical? One way to address this is by leveraging a learning management system (LMS) to streamline and enhance the onboarding process. But what is a learning management system, and how can this and other methods be applied in practical and engaging ways?
Foster A Welcoming & Supportive Environment
In order to feel safe, capable, and interested, an employee has to feel welcomed. It’s hard to adhere to the new standards of a company you’re working with if they expect you to be perfect from day one. This way, you may even neglect to mention a mistake when it could have served as a vital learning opportunity.
A welcoming environment is key. Greetings, Provide information like a corporate tree to see who operates in what department and what their role is, as is ensuring your staff member has one point of contact they can begin with. All of this provides reliability and a comforting commencement of the role.
Train New Staff On Your Software Requirements
It’s very important to make sure staff understand the software protocols you use. This might take a little training. For example, NDIS software that helps manage every aspect of the client or patient journey is so comprehensive that it may take a few days for your new staff member to get up to speed.
This way, you can also educate them regarding the operational standards you expect, be that through raising issues, booking appointments, attaching files, communicating with other staff, and signing off on work conducted. You can also teach them the finer points of data handling and security so that the most confidential information remains that way.
Your IT system will no doubt be managed by an outsourced IT firm, which you can then introduce to your staff member, discussing their practices, how to report technical issues, and how to ensure external communications are correctly handled.
Curate A Mentor System
A robust mentoring system can ensure an onboarding professional is able to ask as many questions as they need to, without necessarily having to get the answers from five people at once.
Perhaps your onboarded professional will shadow another higher-up professional for a fortnight as they arrive, and this can help them understand every aspect of general operational planning, and your standards of care, meet some of your patients, commit to the documentation process, and raise queries where necessary.
Then, as that introduction period wears off, your staff member might still offer their support for the first couple of months in case of any odd questions. This way, your onboarding staff member will never need to commit to an action while being half-sure about the process, because after all, the consequences for even well-meaning error are too great in a clinical environment.
Seek Feedback For Continuous Improvement
It’s quite easy to assume you’ve nailed your onboarding process, especially if no new staff members have complained about it and instead tried to engage with it fully. Yet, of course, that’s how many of us approach our jobs to begin with, hoping to make the best first impression. If you’re not seeking feedback, often you won’t be provided with it.
So, systemizing that feedback is key. A communications channel to raise questions, complain about not enough training where little has been provided, and a survey after onboarding has taken place to see where more information could be offered is key.
For example, it might be that your equipment loan or safety equipment system is functioning as intended, but without a little staff training, they may not understand how to fully utilize it, or how to conform to best practice. A worthwhile course correction and policy referral may save time and mistakes in the future – but only if you know this is a weak spot in your training plan.
With this advice, you’ll be sure to implement worthwhile onboarding even in clinical environments.