Outcomes Achieved From Organizational Investment in Nursing Continuing Professional Development

Components of an Effective Professional Development Strategy: The Professional Practice Model, Peer Feedback, Mentorship, Sponsorship, and Succession Planning

OBJECTIVES

To review components of an effective professional development strategy in the oncology setting that includes mentorship, sponsorship, and succession planning.

DATA SOURCES

OvidSP, practice standards, professional guidelines, and websites.

CONCLUSIONS

There are compelling reasons why oncology nurses in all settings are required to remain current in their area of practice and use strategies that take advantage of available opportunities for professional development. Benefits include enhanced autonomy, strengthened individual competence, greater engagement, and enriched organizational cultures that can positively impact patient care.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

Creating an environment that supports professional development is dependent on nurse leaders and the organizational commitment to the value of lifelong learning. Professional development can be enabled through many structures, including mentorship, sponsorship, and succession planning.

A case study - Implementing a registered nurse professional recognition program across a Queensland hospital and health service

Ongoing advancement and documentation of professional development is required to maintain nursing registration and competency to practise in Australia and many other countries. All Australian registered nurses are required to undertake a minimum of 20 h of continuing professional development annually and demonstrate competence to practice; this is a criterion for nursing registration. Many health care organisations nationally and internationally develop programs to support such processes, assisting nurses to formally document their ongoing education and commitment to best practice, and clearly demonstrate their ongoing continuing professional development. Such programs align with the MAGNET ® principles of providing structural empowerment, exemplary professional practice and new knowledge, innovations and improvements. This study describes the implementation, evaluation and impact of the registered nurse professional recognition program undertaken by one Hospital and Health Service in South East Queensland using Donabedian's structure, process outcome framework. The registered nurse professional recognition program was implemented to invest in and develop the nursing workforce by providing an opportunity for registered nurses to assess and document their professional skills, knowledge and expertise that are critical to the provision of safe and cost-effective patient and family-centred care.

Systematic Review of Continuing Education Interventions for Licensed Nurses Working in Psychiatry

Continuing education is an important part of nursing practice. These interventions help maintain clinical competence and are mandated by regulatory bodies. Often, continuing education interventions are created ad hoc and implemented without testing or formal evaluation of learning outcomes. In the current health care context, where resources are limited, educators are pressed to do more with less. Having access to a repository of existing continuing education interventions will facilitate the use of evidence-informed learning strategies and save valuable time by reducing duplication of efforts. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to explore continuing education interventions for licensed nurses working in psychiatry. All standard systematic review procedures were followed, including double screening, data extraction, and quality appraisal. This article presents an inventory of existing interventions, including summaries, as well as the reported effectiveness of each for nursing outcomes. Generally, the continuing education interventions result in positive nurse-related outcomes, such as increased knowledge, confidence, and skills, or improved attitudes; however, more rigorous research is needed to advance science in this area. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2019;50(5):233-240.].

Fit for purpose? Evaluation of CPD courses for nurses in an Irish university teaching hospital

INTRODUCTION

acute tertiary hospitals require knowledgeable, skilled registered nurses to care for patients in specialist areas. It is also a professional responsibility that nurses maintain skills and competence. This article reports on stage 1 of an action research study to evaluate the delivery of continuing professional development (CPD) courses for registered nurses in an acute hospital in Ireland.

METHODS

an audit and qualitative self-reporting questionnaire was used to obtain data. The questionnaire focused on the areas of teaching learning and outcomes. Overall, five CPD courses, each of 26 weeks' duration, were evaluated.

RESULTS

teaching delivery was all didactic and was delivered primarily by clinical staff with expert knowledge and skills, but the teaching approaches varied. The curriculum content was identified as excessive and at a high level for an introductory course, with a large volume of classroom-based theoretical delivery. Participant learning was reported as excellent in the clinical areas; however, this was counterbalanced by heavy workloads and staffing shortages. Participant motivation was also found to influence learning. From an outcome perspective the development of new knowledge and skills was reported in participants who had undertaken the courses, and participants reported that the CPD courses assisted in recruitment and retention.

CONCLUSION

although many positive aspects of the CPD courses were identified, it is clear that some changes were required with particular reference to theoretical delivery and curriculum content.

Educating new graduate nurses in their first year of practice: The perspective and experiences of the new graduate nurses and the director of nursing

New graduate nurses are the future of nursing and the education they receive as they transition into the workforce as a newly registered nurse is critical for building a suitably qualified nursing workforce that will adequately serve the future population. Variation exists in education programmes for new graduate nurses in their first year of practice which is known to impact on transition experience. A qualitative study using focus groups and semi-structured interviews was undertaken to explore the experiences and perceptions of New Graduate Nurses undertaking a new graduate programme and Directors of Nursing supporting them to complete the programme which may or may not have been inclusive of a postgraduate course (Masters Level). The findings of this study are in line with previous research and support the value of new graduate programmes but did reveal a lack of consensus in regards to the structure and content of such programmes. This study revealed some commonalities and challenges between the differing programmes but has identified the need for further research to establish the impact of postgraduate education in the first year of practice and how this impacts on nursing practice and patient care. There are numerous terms in the literature with reference to new graduate programmes; transition to practice programme, nurse entry to practice programme, first year of clinical practice programme, new graduate programme and early career nursing programme. For the purpose of this article the term Nurse Entry to Practice (NETP) will be used in reference to any form of new graduate programme.

Reaching their potential: Perceived impact of a collaborative academic-clinical partnership programme for early career nurses in New Zealand

BACKGROUND

The dynamic nature of healthcare ensures that early career nurses enter an uncertain and complex world of practice and consequently require support to develop their practice, build confidence and reach their potential. The New Zealand Nurse Entry to Practice programme for registered nurses in their first year of practice has been operating since 2005 to enable safe and confident practice, improve the quality of care, and positively impact on recruitment and retention. This academic and clinical programme was offered as a partnership between a university and a clinical provider with postgraduate academic credits gained.

AIM

The aim of this study was to explore the perceived impact of postgraduate university education for early career nurses in one regional health area of New Zealand.

METHODS

Participants were registered nurses who had completed the early career nurse programme and their clinical preceptors. The research was conducted via an online survey of 248 nurses and three focus groups to explore how the programme was experienced and its impact on knowledge and practice.

RESULTS

Early career nurses and their preceptors found that the programme enables improved knowledge and skills of patient assessment, application of critical thinking to clinical practice, perceived improvement in patient care delivery and outcomes, enhanced interprofessional communication and knowledge sharing, and had a positive impact on professional awareness and career planning.

CONCLUSIONS

This clinical-academic partnership positively impacted on the clinical practice and transition experience of early career nurses and was closely aligned to an organization's strategic plan for nursing workforce development.

Impact of an e-Learning Course on Clinical Practice in Psychiatric Hospitals: Nurse Managers' Views

BACKGROUND

e-Learning is one way to provide continuing education and has been shown to be an effective method. However, little is known about how psychiatric organizations benefit from continuing education.

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to use Kirkpatrick's four-level model to evaluate an e-learning continuing education course from the perspectives of nursing managers in psychiatric hospital organizations.

DESIGN AND METHODS

This qualitative design evaluated one e-learning course using Kirkpatrick's model as an evaluation frame.

FINDINGS

Nursing managers noticed positive, neutral, and negative reactions after the course. Nursing managers also reported that the nurses' learning evolved.

The Power of Synergy: An Academic/Clinical Partnership for Transformational Change

Background. A programme of postgraduate study was developed in partnership between a health board and a university in New Zealand, having identified critical thinking and practice change as key determinants of good care delivery. Aim. To explore the impact after 12 months of a postgraduate programme for registered nurses on patient assessment and clinical reasoning, and the status of implementation plans for improved patient care. Design. Outcome evaluation using a survey and focus groups. Setting. On location at a hospital in a small city in New Zealand that provides healthcare services for 102,000 people across rural and urban areas. Participants. Registered nurses who had completed the programme (N=28) and seven clinical mentors. Methods. A survey, focus groups, and follow-up data about quality improvement projects were used to explore how the programme was experienced and its impact. Results. The survey revealed perceptions of improved knowledge and skills but a lack of confidence in communicating with medical staff. Of 28 quality improvement projects planned, all but three had been implemented and were still in use. Two themes were generated from focus group data: “new ways of thinking” and “doing things differently.” Conclusions. This academic/clinical partnership positively influenced nurses’ knowledge and skills, encouraged critical thinking and self-efficacy, and resulted in the sustained implementation of nurse-initiated projects intended to improve patient care.

An integrated educational model for continuing nurse education

AIM

This paper reports on the development and evaluation of an integrated clinical learning model to inform ongoing education for surgical nurses. The research aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing a Respiratory Skills Update (ReSKU) education program, in the context of organisational utility, on improving surgical nurses' practice in the area of respiratory assessment.

BACKGROUND

Continuous development and integration of technological innovations and research in the healthcare environment mandate the need for continuing education for nurses. Despite an increased worldwide emphasis on this, there is scant empirical evidence of program effectiveness.

METHODS

A quasi experimental pre test, post test non-equivalent control group design evaluated the impact of the ReSKU program on surgical nurses' clinical practice. The 2008 study was conducted in a 400 bed regional referral public hospital and was consistent with contemporary educational approaches using multi-modal, interactive teaching strategies.

FINDINGS

The study demonstrated statistically significant differences between groups regarding reported use of respiratory skills, three months after ReSKU program attendance. Between group data analysis indicated that the intervention group's reported beliefs and attitudes pertaining to subscale descriptors showed statistically significant differences in three of the six subscales.

CONCLUSION

The construct of critical thinking in the clinical context, combined with clinical reasoning and purposeful reflection, was a powerful educational strategy to enhance competency and capability in clinicians.

Creating a culture of safety by coaching clinicians to competence

Contemporary discussions of nursing knowledge, skill, patient safety and the associated ongoing education are usually combined with the term competence. Ensuring patient safety is considered a fundamental tenet of clinical competence together with the ability to problem solve, think critically and anticipate variables which may impact on patient care outcomes. Nurses are ideally positioned to identify, analyse and act on deteriorating patients, near-misses and potential adverse events. The absence of competency may lead to errors resulting in serious consequences for the patient. Gaining and maintaining competence are especially important in a climate of rapid evidence availability and regular changes in procedures, systems and products. Quality and safety issues predominate highlighting a clear need for closer inter-professional collaboration between education and clinical units. Educators and coaches are ideally placed to role model positive leadership and resilience to develop capability and competence. With contemporary guidance and support from educators and coaches, nurses can participate in life-long learning to create and enhance a culture of safety. The added challenge for nurse educators is to modernise, rationalise and integrate education delivery systems to improve clinical learning. Investing in evidence-based, contemporary education assists in building a capable, resilient and competent workforce focused on patient safety.

Nursing intellectual capital theory: operationalization and empirical validation of concepts

AIMS

To present the operationalization of concepts in the nursing intellectual capital theory and the results of a methodological study aimed at empirically validating the concepts.

BACKGROUND

The nursing intellectual capital theory proposes that the stocks of nursing knowledge in an organization are embedded in two concepts, nursing human capital and nursing structural capital. The theory also proposes that two concepts in the work environment, nurse staffing and employer support for nursing continuing professional development, influence nursing human capital.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional design.

METHODS

A systematic three-step process was used to operationalize the concepts of the theory. In 2008, data were collected for 147 inpatient units from administrative departments and unit managers in 6 Canadian hospitals. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted to determine if the indicator variables accurately reflect their respective concepts.

RESULTS

The proposed indicator variables collectively measured the nurse staffing concept. Three indicators were retained to construct nursing human capital: clinical expertise and experience concept. The nursing structural capital and employer support for nursing continuing professional development concepts were not validated empirically.

CONCLUSION

The nurse staffing and the nursing human capital: clinical expertise and experience concepts will be brought forward for further model testing. Refinement for some of the indicator variables of the concepts is indicated. Additional research is required with different sources of data to confirm the findings.

A theoretically informed education program designed specifically for acute surgical nurses

AIM

The aim of the research was to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing the Respiratory Skills Update (ReSKU) education program using integrated teaching and learning strategies, in the context of organisational utility, on improving surgical nurses' practice in the area of respiratory assessment.

BACKGROUND

Technological advances and changes in healthcare delivery have necessitated that nurse educators adopt innovative teaching and learning strategies to better prepare acute care nurses for their increasingly complex roles. This 2007 study used a robust overarching theoretical framework to develop and evaluate an educational model using the ReSKU program as a basis for the content.

METHODS

The study was conducted in a 400 bed regional referral public hospital, in Australia. The research was guided by the work of Forneris (2004) to operationalise a critical thinking process incorporating the complexities of the clinical context. The theoretical framework used multi-modal, interactive educational strategies that were learner-centred and participatory. These strategies aimed to engage the clinician in dynamic thinking processes in clinical practice situations guided by coaches and educators.

CONCLUSION

The construct of critical thinking in practice combined with clinical reasoning and purposeful and collective reflection is a powerful educational strategy to enhance competency and capability in clinicians.

The making of an education day in a canadian health care facility

The benefits of an education day have been documented within a variety of disciplines; however, there is a paucity of up-to-date knowledge on the implementation and planning phases, and these phases are addressed in this article. Having knowledge of what form of delivery education can take can affect employer-provided education throughout health care. This article will benefit staff development educators by addressing issues in staff development and the role that an education day can have in health care facilities.