An Investigation into Human Resource Development (HRD) Needs of Nurses. The Case of Public Health Sector, Pakistan.

Abstract

The research investigates the health services of Pakistan by exploring current Human Resource Development (HRD) practices and social skills training opportunities for the development of nursing staff. The research aims to explore the best practice in social skills and competency development through HRD activities by detailing a project to identify the learning needs of registered nurses leading to improved quality care services. An exploratory research approach has been adopted to achieve research objectives. This mixed method oriented research, is primarily quantitative case study, supplemented by qualitative interviews to validate and enrich data findings from questionnaires to substantiate the research. The data was collected through 600 questionnaires and 10 interviews from five major public hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan. The research has identified multiple and diverse challenges of inadequate and improper HRD infrastructure, transformational leadership and participative style of management is resulting into degenerating attitudes and negative behaviours thus causing further slump. These counterproductive elements are failing to imbibe positive social skills and abilities in nursing staff resulting in creating impediments in deliverance of quality care services. This clearly indicates that there is no policy in place therefore, based on empirical evidences, as well as critical review of the literature, it proposes a model for achieving critical social skills development through training and development in order to achieve quality care standards based on the broad and long-term perspective of the strategy of input, process, output and outcome to support nursing sector, social skills development in particular to achieve optimum quality care objectives.