Introduction
The articles that will be discovered in this paper mainly cover the topic of training and development of staff in healthcare establishments. Each material has its methods of research, objectives, focus, and peculiarities. Nevertheless, given the fact that the scholar works deal with a similar topic and provide interdependent findings, a comparative analysis of them might be a relevant issue to discover. Moreover, the articles have significant conclusions that may be valuable to improve one’s teamwork, leadership, and multicultural skills that can be used in bodies of medical care as well as in another human activity.
The Articles’ Relation to Training and Development
The question about employee development may be considered essential for any work. Babiker et al. (2014) discover the issue of professional development of healthcare system employees focusing on the importance of effective and productive teamwork. The ones who want to learn values of working as a team might acquaint with this work as the authors reveal the benefits from principles of “high-functioning teams” (Babiker et al., 2014, p. 12). The maxims are as follows: honesty, discipline, creativity, humility, and curiosity. Furthermore, the article contributes to the implementation of effective teamwork rules by identifying the exhausting list of “practical tips for health-care professionals” (Babiker et al., 2014, p. 12). Thus, the described article consistently covers the aspects of personnel skills improvement within the scope of the healthcare system.
The next authors argue that the demand for qualified support staff has risen due to the increase of aging people who require constant and quality care. Sarrea et al. (2018) analyze the development of medical personnel within the scope of skills improvement of support workers in three English acute hospitals by providing the results of intensive empirical research. Ward managers might need to implement induction training, on-ward support, and mentoring for new starters as well as an assessment of their competencies (Sarrea et al., 2018). The scholars formulate the actions for filling the gap between intended goals of support workers training and their practical realization that might be especially valuable for discovering the topic of healthcare staff development.
The following scholars focus on a customized cross-cultural competency (CCC) program that aims to train the ability of healthcare employees to adapt to the needs of culturally diverse patients. Goodman & Preston (2015) describe the experience of Florida Hospital in implementing the program and significant results from it. The article emphasizes that medical personnel in the US is obliged to develop multicultural skills because of the provisions of the Affordable Healthcare Act (AHA).
Strengths, Weaknesses, and Comparison of the Articles
The mentioned articles might have a distinct point in common that may be considered as their strength. The authors place the patients’ interests and health in the center of medical care and conduct the whole research through this prism. It means that they consider the development of medical staff as a necessary prerequisite to high-level treatment, which may contribute to the compelling results of the analysis. Moreover, the studies might have some particular strengths, as well. Babiker et al. (2014) develop a significant theoretical basis for smooth and productive teamwork within the healthcare system describing challenges that may be faced and how to overcome them. Sarrea et al. (2018) provide an immense quantity of evidential data, which might ensure the analytical validity and reliability of their research. Goodman & Preston (2015) reveal the relevant issue about the globalization of healthcare that may lead to a proper understanding of the current international medical interdependence. The authors’ points of view do not seem to conflict with each other as they emphasize personnel development importance and discover the exact aspects, not claiming that their approach is the only appropriate one.
However, there is a number of limitations contained in the articles. Babiker et al. (2014) do not provide any step-by-step plan of improving team performance though it might be a logic summary of the research due to consistently described terms, practical tips, and values of teamwork. Sarrea et al. (2018) state in their work, “the study was conducted in England, and therefore situated in a particular policy context” (p. 152). Moreover, they drew the data from the study that has similar but not identical research aims. Thus, these scholars do not have information about the whole sample for every problem they discover. Goodman & Preston (2015) are more likely to describe the benefits of the CCC program but not its provisions or particular tactics. Their work contains mostly informative pieces of information rather than analysis ones. Nevertheless, it might be stated that all described articles demonstrate a great extent of objectiveness and the coherent train of thought.
Application of the Articles’ Ideas in Hospital Settings
The concepts and ideas contained in the articles might have a practical implementation in hospital settings. Babiker et al. (2014) directly describe the concrete tips that healthcare teams may use to establish good relations with patients and how to achieve a patient’s satisfaction. Moreover, the authors give the life example of the implementation of the practical strategic approach that might confirm their findings and, hence, be used in real hospital conditions. Sarrea et al. (2018) analyze the policies of training support workers of three English hospitals, revealing improvements to staff development. They suggest, “training days booked as whole days away from the ward, and classroom-based training time supplemented by time spent on e-learning to fill the day” (Sarrea et al., 2018, p. 152). Goodman & Preston (2015) provide a detailed description of the positive results and lessons learned from the CCC program as well as some actions aimed to improve Florida Hospital staff cross-cultural skills. These actions developed workers’ qualifications so they might be undertaken in hospital settings.
Universality of the Content
It might be noticed that the articles have a significant concentration on the content related to the concepts of employee development. What is more, the investigations conducted by the authors have consistent and coherent arguing, which may lead to the universality of their findings and conclusions. Thus, the works can be recommended to serious students of training and development and for HR managers involved in strategic planning, staffing, and organizational development to enrich their theoretical knowledge. However, the research accent of the papers is made on healthcare laborers and, thus, tends to contribute to the medical field of studies. So, at the universal level, practical implementation of the articles’ content is more likely to benefit the performance of managers who lead a team directly but not generate global management strategies (personnel administrators, HR managers).
Conclusion
It seems reasonable to assume that the discussed articles cover similar topics about personnel development in the field of the healthcare system. The works have particular strengths that emphasize their uniqueness and relevance and have no conflicts of interest. However, each article has its specific limitations that, nevertheless, do not spoil the consistency of research. The ideas and principles contained in the described materials might be applied in hospital settings. Moreover, the content of the papers can be useful for the ones involved in the field of employee development but not only in the medical sphere.
References
Babiker, A., El Husseini, M., Al Nemri, A., Al Frayh, A., Al Juryyan, N., Assiri, A.,… Shaikh. F. (2014). Health care professional development: Working as a team to improve patient care. Sudanese Journal of Paediatrics, 14(2), 9–16.
Goodman, N. & Preston, L., Jr. (2015). With training and development for all. TD. Web.
Sarrea, S., Mabenb, J., Aldusc, C., Schneiderd, J., Wharrade, H., Nicholsona, C., & Arthur, A. (2018). The challenges of training, support and assessment of healthcare support workers: A qualitative study of experiences in three English acute hospitals. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 79(1), 145–153.