Front-line training: a health care imperative

Training departments in health care institutions are faced with the problem of providing increased services despite reduced budgets. The increased educational needs are the result of organizational reengineering, mergers and acquisitions, technical advances, and the increasing reliance on less qualified employees. One solution to this dilemma is to make better use of managers and experienced workers as trainers. Keys to success include the ability to convince managers that they will benefit from their expanded roles, and to motivate workers to share their knowledge and skill with their team-mates in a cross-training endeavor.