Training Opportunities for Managers in Home Health, Hospice, and Community-Based Care Settings

Abstract

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to identify areas for developing management skills-focused continuing education for managers working in home health, hospice, and community-based settings. BACKGROUND Healthcare managers play a vital role in organizations, yet they have a range of management training. METHODS Researchers conducted a cross-sectional survey of managers at a large Visiting Nurse Association. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed to examine confidence in management skills by respondent characteristic. Factor and cluster analyses were used to examine differences by role. RESULTS For all 33 management tasks, managers with 6+ years of experience reported greater confidence than managers with 0 to 5 years of experience. Tasks with the lowest confidence were budgeting, interpreting annual reports, strategic planning, measuring organizational performance, and project planning. Managers were clustered into 5 “profiles.” CONCLUSION Management training is not 1-size-fits-all. Healthcare organizations should consider investing in training specific to the identified low-confidence areas and manager roles to better support and develop a robust management workforce.