NAACCR Tools Can Help with Staffing Challenges

NAACCR Recruitment and Retention Toolkit

It seems like every time I talk to a central registry manager the discussion quickly turns to staffing. Either their registry has several open positions, or they have key registry staff getting ready to retire. This is not a new problem, but it feels like it is getting worse. Several years ago, the NAACCR Professional Development Steering Committee developed a toolkit to help central registries find, hire, and retain registry staff.

The NAACCR Recruitment and Retention Toolkit reflects standard practices used in a variety of central registries. The Professional Development Steering Committee recognized that a one-size-fits-all approach would not work. This toolkit is meant to be a template that can be customized to meet the needs of your registry. The resources included in the toolkit will assist central registries with developing job descriptions, marketing the position, screening and interviewing applicants, and tips on engaging current employees. A recently updated training guide for developing a training plan for new registrars is also available.

The training guide, titled, Oncology Data Specialist Training Guide, is in a new format and includes new training resources. The training guide will assist central registries in creating a customized training plan for inexperienced staff. The training plan provides tips on how to train a new employee in core registrar skills and get them to a point where they can perform basic central registry tasks. The plan includes modules on casefinding, ICD-O coding, solid tumor rules, and abstracting specific sites (colon, prostate, breast, etc). A webinar introducing the updated Oncology Data Specialist Training Guide was held 11/13/2023 and is available at https://education.naaccr.org/freewebinars.

If you are reading this article, I’m guessing you are experiencing staffing issues at your registry! If that is the case, please take a look at the NAACCR Recruitment and Retention Toolkit. If you find the toolkit useful or have suggestions on how it can be improved, send me an email. We would be thrilled to hear how you used the toolkit to recruit or train new staff!