Continuous Professional Development (CPD) & Care: Definition, Importance and Benefits

This article will cover the definition of Continous Professional Development, its importance, and the many benefits it has.
CPD stands for ‘Continuing Professional Development, and it describes a holistic approach used by healthcare professionals, toward the development and improvement of their skills.
The Department of Health states; “In the NHS, CPD is determined through appraisals with personal development plans agreed between individuals and their managers. A key development in ensuring that healthcare professionals maintain their competence is the move among regulatory bodies to develop CPD strategies for the revalidation/re-certification of their members.”
CPD encourages healthcare providers to learn something new, refresh existing knowledge, and overall, focus on a commitment to lifelong learning. It’s an empowering process, and it allows individuals to focus on how they can become more competent and effective within their roles.
In practice, CPD can look like anything that encourages learning. It could mean taking a training course, attending an educational event, studying new qualifications or learning new aspects of a job.
What are the benefits of professional development for healthcare providers?
There are many benefits of professional development for healthcare providers. We’ve listed just a few of them here:
- Developing Pre-Existing Skills and Knowledge.
Being able to build upon existing knowledge allows you to be able to provide the highest level of quality care to your clients and patients. Training and learning can increase confidence and overall capability, and also compliments career aspirations. There are plenty of formal courses out there to be able to do this, with many courses ranging from either theory or hands-on practice. The official CPD website is filled with different courses and workshops, but there are plenty more online. We’ve listed this particular one here, which is a course on Person-Centred care. We’ve also written a blog post about it here, for you to read more!
- Keeping Up To Date With Industry Trends and Updates
It’s always important to know what’s happening within the industry, and a key advantage here is to be able to observe industry updates and best practices that you may not necessarily have the time to research otherwise. Although this isn’t formally recognised as ‘skill-building’, it’s a great opportunity to launch into developing one's knowledge of what’s new within the homecare sector.
- Progression In Your Current Role
As mentioned above, being able to develop existing skills and knowledge further, whilst keeping up to date with the changes in the industry makes you a valuable asset. With the continuous changes within the homecare sector, expectations for staff to be up-to-date with new trends have increased. Being able to keep up with changes can make you a multi-skilled candidate.
- Shows A Commitment to Self-Development
CPD allows you to commit to self-development and professionalism. Being able to identify and resolve knowledge gaps will lead to improvement and the ability to feel more confident in your capabilities.
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