What Are Cross-Training Programs for Nurses?

Cross-training programs provide healthcare providers with specific skills (e.g., critical care, medical-surgical, or progressive care nursing competencies). These programs offer specialized training that nurses may not have received during nursing school.

Cross-training programs are designed to help deepen a nurse’s knowledge and skill level, allowing nurses to fill critical staff shortages. Learn how cross-training programs work, why and how to participate in cross-training programs, and which concentrations are common.

Cross-training involves you, your nursing supervisor, and your workplace cross-training department. In some situations, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses must be onboarded quickly to help fill rapidly increasing staffing needs. Cross-training allows nurses to learn new, sometimes high-tech skills required to provide quality patient care.

The goal of cross-training programs is to provide a means for nurses to deepen their knowledge and skills in caring for specific types of patients (e.g., critically ill) and to improve safety and patient outcomes. The specific skills learned differ depending on the nursing concentration or specialty.

These special programs can help nurses increase flexibility and competitiveness in the job market. In addition to improving self-development, nurses may also be able to advance their careers.

There may be qualification parameters (e.g., good performance ratings) that must be met to be considered for cross-training programs. To get involved in a cross-training program, nurses must make their career interests known to their supervisor, then plan a training assignment. Some nurses may need to complete a year or two of clinical registered nurse (RN) experience to be eligible for cross-training.

Nurses pursuing cross-training in critical care units may be required to earn additional certifications, such as advanced cardiac life support or pediatric advanced life support.

Each facility has its own parameters when it comes to how many hours you are allowed to take to get cross-trained. Training usually occurs during work hours.

After getting approval from your supervisor, and/or with human resources, the next step is to develop a cross-training plan with the cross-training department. After training is complete, your performance will be evaluated.

Nurses can be cross-trained in several concentrations or specializations, like critical care and medical-surgical nursing, as well as in postanesthesia care and telemetry units.

Training programs vary depending on the institution, the level of skills being trained for, and other factors. Some programs offer 100-hour cross-training programs.

Cross-training is a structured program designed for nurses who will fill critical shortages in other departments of the facility in which they are employed. Usually, this involves working with patients who are severely ill, such as those in critical care or progressive care units.

Nurses may need to refer to their individual programs or instructors on how to formally apply their cross-training skills after the program is completed.

Nurses can participate in cross-training programs through their employers, usually in acute care facilities that employ nurses with various backgrounds and experience levels.

Page last reviewed December 19, 2022