Reimagines career development to empower healthcare professionals to grow across sectors and settings

With retention rates continuing to challenge the sector—not only among newly qualified professionals—Growth-based Career Planning for Healthcare Professionals offers a timely re-evaluation of career development rooted in contemporary workforce issues. This innovative book shifts the focus from outdated promotion-based models toward a perspective that values diverse roles, experiences, and aspirations, introducing a new narrative that emphasises opportunity, agency, and actionable insights for practitioners, managers, and leaders alike.

Inviting readers to think more holistically about their career journeys within the health and care ecosystem, Growth-based Career Planning for Healthcare Professionals:

• Provides practical strategies for implementing inclusive career development across the four pillars of practice: clinical practice, leadership, education, and research
• Highlights the connection between career planning, well-being, and workforce sustainability
• Explores real-world applications of the Kawa model to support personal and professional growth
• Features reflective, solution-focused questions to guide individual and organisational action planning
• Offers narrative-driven insights into the career journeys of diverse health and care professionals
• Addresses wider structural and cultural dynamics, offering strategies to foster equity and diversity as part of a humanistic approach to workforce development

Supporting person-centred workforce development through adaptable models applicable across sectors and settings, Growth-based Career Planning for Healthcare Professionals: A Narrative for Change serves as a vital resource for all healthcare practitioners, line managers, operational leaders, and strategic workforce planners across sectors. It is ideal for pre-registration learners (students and apprentices) in healthcare, particularly in modules related to workforce development, professional practice, career development, and leadership.

Stephanie Tempest, PhD, is an Occupational Therapist and Learning and Workforce Development Consultant with nearly three decades of experience across neurorehabilitation, academia, and national healthcare leadership. She is the director of Stephanie Tempest Consultancy Ltd and co-director of The Creative Health Alliance.