The ATD Talent Development and Training in Healthcare Handbook (ATD Press, November 2021) addresses the many opportunities and challenges TD professionals face in the growing and rapidly changing healthcare space. Effective talent development is the thread that weaves through an entire healthcare organization to ensure it is up to standard with the latest practices in treating patients while providing a safe and engaging environment for staff. TD professionals have the unique role of tying together organizational and employee advancement in healthcare systems—and likewise, this handbook dives into areas for both business and professional evolution.
Written by 25 fellow healthcare practitioners with extensive experience in the field—from nurses, physicians, and administrators to instructional designers, chief learning officers, technology experts, and leaders across the industry, it covers six key themes across 26 chapters:
- Learning and Development Basics
- Organization Development
- Employee Development
- Business Acumen for the Health System
- Digital Transformation and Literacy
- Patient-Centric Care
How has your experience(s) in training and development and healthcare shaped the best practices you wanted to bring to this project?
I was fortunate to have started and ended my healthcare career with an academic medical center that was involved in a multitude of services, including being the public hospital safety net, a level 1 trauma center, and the teaching hospital for UT Health. Learning was in our DNA and going on all around us. I was also fortunate to grow my own expertise as the organization grew. We were all learning and growing together, and I had amazing leaders who encouraged me to take risks and try innovative practices.How do you foresee advancement of talent development in these areas within healthcare? (For instance, in an ideal world, how do you see this area flourishing for employee or organizational development?)
One silver lining to the pandemic was the recognition of the importance of talent development in meeting business needs. We were able to demonstrate our value by quickly and expertly transforming learning events to the virtual sphere. We were partners with leadership in executing operational urgencies. Having earned this credibility, I can only see increased opportunities for TD amid what appears to be continuing disruption.What is something unexpected you learned while working on this book?
I learned how much I didn’t know. Reading all the chapters written by leaders in the field, I felt as though I could pass an advanced placement test for credit in a master’s in healthcare program.Is there something professional or personal you are proud of accomplishing in the past year?
Does cleaning out my garage count? I went full Marie Kondo at home. Or transforming my yard from a Snowmageddon wasteland into a tropical botanical garden? It’s at its peak beauty right now and brings me joy.What is a fun fact about yourself or a piece of advice you’d like to share?
By sheer serendipity, I was able to reconnect with one of my co-editors, Greg Rider, and one of the contributors to a case study, Lea Toppino, while visiting New York City over the weekend. We raised a toast to celebrate the handbook’s release.My motto is “life is not a stress rehearsal.” This is it—the real deal—so carpe diem. Say yes to opportunities, such as co-editing this book. It turned out to be my salvation during quarantine and lock down.
Oh, and “Life is short. Wear sequins.”
