Upskilling – The Urgent Requirement in Healthcare– Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1113

Upskilling – The Urgent Requirement in Healthcare– Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1113

Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1113 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here.

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Credit: Yusuf Timur Çelic

Preamble

The global healthcare sector is facing an acute labor shortage. Driven by an aging population, chronic disease burdens, and workforce burnout exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for healthcare services is far outpacing supply. One of the most urgent and viable strategies to bridge this gap is large-scale upskilling.

Upskilling refers to equipping existing employees with new or enhanced skills to meet evolving job requirements. In healthcare, this can mean training nurses to use new technologies, educating care workers to handle more complex patient needs, or preparing administrative staff to navigate digital health tools.

In Pakistan, we have started producing more doctors thanks to mushrooming private medical colleges, but the same is not true for nurses, who are in acute shortage, or biomedical engineers, technicians to handle advanced, high-tech equipment, caregivers, qualified healthcare administrators, and almost all other support areas. Few people who are available charge exorbitantly for their services. For example, we purchased a home-use oxygen concentrator few years ago. When we needed its service, we really had to dig to find a reliable one, and it was quite costly.

Why Upskilling Is Crucial in Healthcare

Ever Accelerating Technological Change

Digital health tools, AI diagnostics, telemedicine, and electronic health records are now foundational in healthcare delivery. Staff need the skills to use these tools effectively. Presently, the staff gets overwhelmed with technology, and it slows the process rather than speeding it up.

Changing Patient Demographics

With aging populations and a rise in chronic illnesses, healthcare workers must be trained in geriatric care, palliative support, and long-term chronic disease management. This is a highly deficient area, particularly in long-term patient management at home.

Persistent Workforce Shortages

Many roles, especially in nursing, home health, and primary care are going unfilled. Upskilling existing workers can help fill these gaps without the delay of hiring and onboarding new staff. Even if there is a desire to hire new staff, the availability is not there.

Burnout and Attrition

Persistent overwork, long hours, and low compensations packages are causing burnout and attrition. Empowering staff through education and career growth opportunities boosts morale and retention, offering a proactive solution to burnout.

Barriers to Upskilling in Healthcare

Despite its importance, upskilling at scale faces significant challenges:

Limited Funding and Budget Constraints

Training programs require investment—time, money, and human capital—that many healthcare systems, especially public ones, may not have readily available. Budgets are becoming tighter, and they are further squeezed due to other priorities and corruption.,

Time Constraints and Staff Shortages

Overworked healthcare staff often lack time for additional training. Taking time away from patient care for education is seen as a luxury. Private healthcare facilities do not want to invest in training due to risk of increased turnover and the costs involved.

Fragmented Learning Infrastructure

Many organizations lack centralized systems for learning and development. Training is often ad hoc and not aligned with workforce needs. Training tools are not available inhouse and external trainers are hardly available.

Resistance to Change

Some staff may be hesitant to learn new technologies or adapt to new processes, especially those with long tenure in their roles. Our old staff is particularly scared and resistant to learning new things. 

Inequitable Access to Learning

Not all workers, especially those in rural or underserved areas—have access to training programs or online learning platforms. Our has a huge semi-urban and rural landscape where such things are not available.

Strategies to Accelerate and Scale Upskilling

Embed Training into the Workday

The best way to embed tiny bits of learning into workday. Microlearning, simulations, and just-in-time training modules can allow staff to learn without stepping away from patient care.

Leverage Digital Platforms

It goes without saying that digital tools must be used to impart upskilling. Scalable e-learning systems, virtual reality simulations, and AI-based adaptive learning can personalize and accelerate skill acquisition.

Partnerships with Educational Institutions

Collaborating with nursing schools, universities, and technical colleges can provide structured, accredited programs tailored to healthcare needs. At present, even the educational institutions may not be prepared to take this role, but they may be able to prepare in a short time.

Incentivize Learning

Breaking the resistance is important and the best way is to incentivize learning new things. Offer certification pathways, career advancement opportunities, and pay incentives linked to skill acquisition.

Create a Culture of Continuous Learning

The leaning works great if the whole organization is geared towards it. Seniors must be part of learning. Leadership must champion lifelong learning, embedding it into performance metrics and organizational values.

Here we have an additional problem. We look down upon many professions like nursing and technicians as low-profile, lowly placed jobs. This impression must be erased to encourage people to learn anything, diversify into new opportunities, and become more useful for healthcare and for their own selves.

Sum Up

Upskilling is not a luxury; it is a strategic necessity. In a time when healthcare systems worldwide are stretched thin, the most effective and scalable solution is to invest in the people already in the system. Through thoughtful, accessible, and sustained learning initiatives, healthcare organizations can not only bridge staffing gaps but also improve patient care, increase workforce satisfaction, and build a more resilient health system.

The future of healthcare depends not only on innovation in medicine but also on innovation in workforce development. The time to invest in upskilling is now.

Concluded.

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For most blogs, I research from several sources which are open to public. Their links are mentioned under references. There is no intent to infringe upon anyone’s copyrights. If, any claim is lodged, it will be acknowledged and recognized duly.