Building the Foundation of the Healthcare Workforce

2024 Prediction

The healthcare industry will face a significant shortage of foundational roles, such as Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs), Medical Assistants (MAs), Personal Care Assistants (PCAs) and Lab Technicians. Without a strong base of support caregivers, those in senior positions will face burnout as they are forced to take on more work and have more administrative burdens, impacting employee well-being and overall patient care quality.

What Happened: Change in Staffing Models

In 2024, many healthcare organizations began to rethink their staffing models, with a growing focus on hiring workers earlier in their careers. This approach builds a sustainable talent pipeline, allowing organizations to recruit, train and develop talent from the ground up while addressing the growing demand for healthcare workers.

Leading the charge in this transformative shift, OpusVi partnered with Providence to roll out a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Training Program across several states, including Alaska, California, Washington, Oregon, Montana, New Mexico and Texas. This program builds a sustainable talent pipeline, reduces administrative burden and ensures consistent training standards across locations. It also prepares participants to pass their certification exams, tailored to their specific regions, setting them up for success from day one.

What’s Next: 2025 Prediction

The importance of investing in early recruitment and development will only intensify in 2025. This shift will allow healthcare organizations to move away from short-term "band-aid" solutions — such as relying on expensive temporary hires or overburdening existing staff — and instead foster a skilled, long-term workforce that can meet the growing demands of healthcare delivery.

Supporting New Nurses and Preceptors 

2024 Prediction

In 2024, the critical transition from nursing school to clinical practice will require more focus as current nurse residency programs fall short in addressing the unique challenges of the current healthcare landscape. The fast-paced, complex care demands of modern healthcare, combined with tough decision-making required on the job, will leave new nurses vulnerable to burnout and turnover. Addressing this gap will require implementing robust, structured residency programs that will prepare new nurses for the realities of clinical practice and equip them to deliver safe, high-quality patient care.

What Happened: ECRI 2024 Report and the Role of Preceptors

The ECRI 2024 report highlighted the transition of new clinicians from education to practice as a top safety concern. Nurse shortages, high turnover rates and limited mentorship worsen these challenges, directly impacting patient safety, risk management and staff morale. 

Preceptors also play an important role in guiding graduate nurses and helping them adapt to hospital environments and transition to practice. A 2021 study by the National Library of Medicine found preceptors are better teachers when they’ve been trained, making it clear investing in preceptor training is just as important as supporting new nurses. 

In 2024, OpusVi’s Nurse Residency, Preceptor and Mentor Program helped CommonSpirit Health (CSH), one of the largest non-profit health systems in the U.S., achieve 92% new nurse retention in the first year of implementation, saving $16.3 million in annual turnover costs. The program uses evidence-based learning practices, easily integrates into hospital Learning Management Systems (LMS) and tracks real-time data through our Impact Dashboard platform. With a standardized approach, it ensures every nurse and preceptor gets consistent, high-quality training across the organization.

What’s Next: Looking Ahead to 2025

Expanding initiatives to include enhanced support for preceptors, scalable mentorship frameworks and data-driven approaches will be crucial to effectively transition new nurses into practice. By leveraging robust data analytics tools like our Impact Dashboard, healthcare leaders can gain real-time insights into a nurse’s journey, identifying areas of opportunity to reduce turnover and improve patient safety. This will completely transform nurse residency programs by allowing leaders track the effectiveness of programs. 

This shift to data-driven strategies can help strengthen the understanding of workforce trends, such as tracking intent to leave, monitoring employee engagement and identifying early signs of burnout. By proactively addressing these factors, healthcare organizations can foster a more supportive environment, improve retention rates and enhance patient outcomes.

Rethinking Healthcare Workforce Education

2024 Prediction

Healthcare organizations must adopt apprenticeship-style, skills-based education models to address the challenges of today’s healthcare environment. Traditional approaches, such as tuition reimbursement, will often fail to reach a significant portion of the workforce. These solutions do not address deeper systemic issues and highlight the need for a more sustainable, hands-on approach to training. 

What Happened: A Skills-Based, Apprenticeship-Style Model

Apprenticeship-style education provides healthcare workers with practical, on-the-job training combined with theoretical instruction, equipping them to meet the real-world demands of patient care. Apprenticeship model increases productivity, improves patient care, as well as reduces turnover rate and liability costs. Unlike traditional tuition reimbursement programs that place financial and logistical burdens on employees, apprenticeship models allow healthcare systems to directly invest in workforce development. This approach ensures learners gain both competence and confidence, while organizations benefit from increased employee retention and engagement.

For example, OpusVi partnered with MercyOne to implement an apprentice-style Medical Assistant (MA) program to upskill non-clinical staff, such as receptionists, patient transport staff and environmental services personnel to fill critical vacancies. As a result, learner retention increased from 64.6% to 90%, the graduation rate rose from 48.8% to 94.4% and licensure pass rates improved from 64.3% to 70%. Participants were able to continue their jobs while advancing their skills, paving the way for career growth within the organization.

What Happened: Standardization Across Health Systems

Equally critical is the standardization of training across hospitals and health systems. Inconsistent training can lead to disparities in care quality and pose challenges for healthcare professionals transitioning between facilities within the same system. By implementing standardized, evidence-based training models, health systems can ensure every employee receives the same high-quality education, regardless of location.

OpusVi collaborated with CSH to standardize the nurse residency program across 53 facilities in 21 states. Our Nurse Residency, Preceptor and Mentor Program scaled evidence-based curricular content throughout the system while improving reliability and risk management, reducing legal liability and fostering stronger outcomes in nurse retention and patient safety.

What Happened: Customizing Training for Urban and Rural Settings

While standardization ensures consistency, customization is essential to address the unique needs of urban and rural healthcare settings. Urban hospitals often face high patient volumes, diverse care demands and complex organizational structures, requiring training programs that emphasize efficiency, teamwork and advanced clinical decision-making. On the other hand, rural facilities frequently operate with limited resources and staff, requiring cross-training and a focus on versatility so healthcare workers can effectively perform multiple roles. Recognizing these differences is critical for healthcare organizations to prepare their workforce for the unique challenges they face. 

Looking Ahead to 2025

The focus on apprenticeship-style education and standardized training will only increase as the demand for a skilled healthcare workforce grows. These strategies address immediate workforce shortages while laying the foundation for a resilient, highly competent workforce. By investing in scalable, consistent training programs that are also tailored to the unique demands of urban and rural settings, health systems can ensure they are prepared to meet the challenges of 2025 and beyond.

As we look toward 2025, the lessons and successes of 2024 underline the importance of proactive, innovative workforce strategies in healthcare. From addressing foundational role shortages to equipping new nurses and fostering standardized yet adaptable education models, these approaches are critical for building a sustainable future. By investing in long-term solutions, healthcare organizations can strengthen their workforce, improve patient care and navigate the ever-evolving demands of the industry.

Learn how OpusVi’s workforce development solutions can help upskill and retain your top talent.