Nurses’ Viewpoints on Implementation of Continuing Education Programs at Hospitals

Abstract

Background:Background: Background: Background: Background: Continuing education programs (CEP) are among the most common methods of bringing the medical staff, especially the nurses, up-to-date. Evaluation of the implementation of CEP is needed to optimize such programs and to eliminate any faults. This study aimed to identify the viewpoints of the nurses about CEP in 2015.

Clinical-Academic Nursing Careers and Institutional Theory

“…Continuing education is a process that expands and updates the knowledge of nurses, which increases the efficiency of the services provided and offers new opportunities to develop new skills for their professional careers. On the other hand, the effectiveness of this project will only occur if the real needs of the professionals involved are detected, which requires prior planning (Malekshahi, Rezaian, Fallahi, & Almasian, 2019).…”

“…Another benefit of the communities of practice is to strengthen the interaction between the nurse responsible for continuing education and other colleagues. Thus, the real needs of the various professionals involved are recognized while facilitating the prior planning of education actions and, consequently, increasing their effectiveness (Malekshahi et al, 2019).…”

Preparing Staff Nurses to Be Preceptors on a Dedicated Education Unit Through an Interactive Bulletin Board

“…The ability to take time off to attend educational sessions is challenging. Additional barriers include a lack of information about the time and location of the continuing education session, as well as the time of the training (Malekshahi et al, 2019). Nurses identify limited time to complete continuing professional development during work hours (Cunningham et al, 2020).…”

“…Even prior to the current pandemic, the United States was experiencing a nursing shortage, which is expected to intensify as the need for health care increases with aging of the baby boomers (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2019). Many nurses are working additional shifts while caring for families, leaving little time outside work for continuing education (Malekshahi et al, 2019). The ability to take time off to attend educational sessions is challenging.…”

“…The heavy patient loads limit nurses’ ability to attend educational opportunities during working hours. In addition, nurses identify not having staff to cover their absence (Malekshahi et al, 2019; Vázquez-Calatayud et al, 2021). Attending sessions outside work hours often interferes with other personal obligations, such as time with friends and family (Vázquez-Calatayud et al, 2021) and affects their work–life balance (Cunningham et al, 2020).…”