Measuring Return on Investment for Professional Development Activities

Abstract

In the current complex healthcare environment in which organizations are dealing with reimbursement challenges, nursing professional development practitioners must increasingly demonstrate that the time and resources dedicated to educational activities are worth the impact they have on outcomes. Measuring return on investment guides decisions on resources (people, supplies, time) used for professional development activities by showing the financial impact of such activities. The purpose of this project was to review the literature on return on investment for professional development activities to best guide decision-making for limited resources. This is Part I of two articles, the first of which provides a review of the literature. The second article provides guidance for conducting financial analyses of nursing professional development activities.

Hospital Nurses' Simulation-Based Education Regarding Patient Safety: A Scoping Review

“…The 'return on investment' in professional development activities (Opperman, Liebig, Bowling, Johnson, & Harper, 2016) is sometimes called the fifth level of evaluation. With resourcing pressures on health care services in developed countries and a scarcity of financial resources in developing countries, high-fidelity simulation should be allocated where it returns the highest value in terms of nurse competencies.…”

A bibliometric analysis of 81 articles that represent excellence in nursing publication

“…As noted, the two articles by Opperman et al. (2016a; 2016b) had many subsequent citations of the target article in the second and third generation citations in the same journal. This may be attributed to the readership and authors being familiar with the content published in the journal.…”

“…(), on the topic of support and stigma in older men living with HIV. An extreme silo was demonstrated by Opperman, Liebig, Bowling, Johnson, and Harper (2016a) with all articles in the second generation ( N = 8) being cited only in the original target journal.…”

Professional Development and Sustainable Development Goals

“…Additionally, professional development has economic benefits. According to many scholars, professional development can come in the form of rewards in terms of monetary value; consequently, benefitting people economically (Ionela 2012;EvoLLLution 2012;Blau et al 2016;Opperman et al 2018).…”