Continuing professional development in nursing

[摘要] The problem identified by the researcher, points to the fact that professional nurses inSouth Africa are not aware that it is their responsibility to continue learning and to seeklearning opportunities in order to address their learning needs after obtaining a basicnursing qualification. Continuing professional development (CPD) has been defined aslifelong learning that takes place in a professional career after the point of qualificationand/or registration. The primary aim of continuing professional development (CPD) innursing is improvement of patient care. CPD in nursing enables professional nursepractitioners to provide quality nursing care and service delivery to their patients andclients.The purpose of this research was to assess the need for continuing professionaldevelopment for professional nurses in order to develop criteria that would assist with theprovision of these programmes. The objectives of this research were to: assess whether professional nurses are aware of their responsibility tocontinue their education beyond their initial pre-service training; assess the extent to which professional nurses participate in continuingeducational activities; ascertain whether professional nurses support the introduction ofmandatory continuing professional development; and determine the barriers to participation in continuing professionaldevelopment.A survey, as a quantitative research design, was used in this research to collect the datafrom a sample of professional nurses working at two public hospitals in the Western CapeProvince. A random sampling technique was used to select one hundred professionalnurses from a population of professional nurses that was dispersed over a widegeographical area. This design enabled the researcher to use a questionnaire in order toobtain the information needed for this research from the participants. The researcher alsoconducted semi-structured interviews, which constitutes a qualitative approach to research, with ten professional nurses. The reason for using both research approaches wasthat the quantitative approach helped the researcher to measure the responses from theprofessional nurses objectively while the qualitative approach enabled the researcher todescribe the professional nurses' own experience of their CPD activities.A questionnaire, as the data collection instrument, was informed by the literature review.It enabled the researcher to obtain the information from the sample of professionalnurses. The data collected included the demographic information of the sample, thenurses' participation in formal education, non-formal education and in-service educationas well as the reasons for and the barriers to participating in these programmes and theirviews about mandatory continuing professional development. The questionnaire was selfadministeredand anonymous. The data obtained from the questionnaires and interviewswas analysed with the use of the Statistica program and a hand calculator. The process oftriangulation was used in this research to assess the reliability and the validity of theresearch process.The findings of this research indicated that the professional nurses included in thisresearch are aware that they have a responsibility to continue their education beyond theirinitial pre-service training. Although these nurses are therefore aware that they have tocontinue learning and that they have a responsibility to pursue lifelong learning, and eventhough there are a significant number of professional nurses who have alreadyparticipated in CPD activities there are also a significant number of professional nurseswho have not yet participated in the CPD activities. Financial and accommodationconstraints, family responsibility, lack of advanced notification and staff shortages havebeen identified as the barriers to CPD participation.The researcher has identified that the professional nurse is in need of CPD. The findingshave indicated that the nurses in the sample do not support mandatory continuingprofessional development but have indicated that they will use all formal and non-formallearning opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills. According to the literature review, various authors have stressed that the concept of adultlearning should be incorporated in the provisions of the CPD programmes for nurses,including the criteria on which these programmes should be based. Teaching and learningstrategies are to be employed that would ensure that nurses have the skills to learn andrelearn as knowledge develops. This will enable nurses to develop the skills that arenecessary for lifelong learning. Innovative strategies also referred to as self-directedapproaches to learning, such as problem-based learning, group discussions or projectsand learning contracts that will promote the development of lifelong learning skills.CPD activities in nursing include formal, non-formal and in-formal learningopportunities. Based on the literature review and the findings, the researcher recommendsthat all professional nurses be granted the opportunity to attend a formal course to helpthem to obtain a post-basic nursing qualification and that all professional nurses furtherbe encouraged to attend the hospital's in-service education programmes and workshopsprovided by the professional nursing societies.The findings indicated that the sample professional nurses believed it is the individualprofessional nurse's responsibility to identify and evaluate his or her own learning needsand be accountable for ensuring that those needs are met. Failure on the part ofprofessional nurses to accept that the responsibility to learn continually is theirs couldresult in the inadequate delivery of nursing care.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University