Access to and support for continuing professional education amongst Queensland nurses : 2004 and 2007

Desley Hegney, Anthony Tuckett, Deborah Parker, Eley Robert

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

59 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper reports on the findings of a prospective exploratory study related to nurses' self-reports of continuing professional education access and support. The data were gathered by two postal surveys undertaken in 2004 and 2007 each which sampled 3000 nurses of the 30,000 nurse members of the industrial body - Queensland Nurses' Union. The response rates were 44.9% and 39.7% for 2004 and 2007, respectively. Over 85% of the nurses reported they had access to continuing professional education activities. However, it is apparent that the majority of these activities are either partially or completely self-funded. Further, between 2004 and 2007 the amount of financial support provided by employers for continuing education and training activities has decreased significantly. While there were differences between 2004 and 2007, the major barrier to be able to attend continuing professional education were financial (could not afford the fee involved; could not afford to take unpaid leave to attend). Another major barrier in both 2004 and 2007 was having the time to undertake the activity. Analysis for differences between nurses in different geographical locations indicated that distance remains a major barrier for nurses in rural and remote areas. These quantitative findings were supported by the qualitative findings on nurses' work where 'education and training' was, overall, the fifth highest ranked issue requiring further attention.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)142-149
Number of pages8
JournalNurse Education Today
Volume30
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010

Keywords

  • Queensland
  • nurses
  • professional education

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