CONTINUING EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION:

DEFINITION:

“Continuing education is all the learning activities that occurs after an individual
has completed his basic education” – Copper

Continuing education in nursing is defined as planned learning experiences

beyond a basic nursing educational program. The learning experiences are designed to
promote the development of knowledge skills, attitudes for the enhancement of nursing
practice thus improving health care to the public.
“That education which builds an previous education”- Shannon

FEATURES:

 Unified approach
 Relationship with other systems
 Comprehensiveness
 Accessibility for women health workers.
 Integration with the management process.
 Analysis of needs as a basis for learning continuity.
 Internally coordinated.
 Relevance in planning
 Credibility and economic
 Appropriateness in implementation

NEED:

FUNCTIONS:
  To meet the health needs and public expectoration.
 To develop the practicing abilities of the nurse.
 Recruitment function.
 Recognize gaps in their knowledge.
 To list ability to do final academic study.
 To improve the communication between the participants, faculty, community and
health sector.
 To test the participants ability to do formal academic study.
 To shape support universal educational polices and practices.
 To ensure the quality of education.
 To maintain academic standards.
 To meet educational requirement.

PHILOSOPHY:

Individual nurses are responsible for their own learning and should participate in
the identification of their own learning needs to meet these identified needs.
Providers of continuing nursing education must have a commitment to involve
learners in the learning process from the initial stages of planning through the evaluation
of organized learning experiences.
Continuing nursing education should be provided in a well planned organized
educational environment.
Strong support and leadership is expected from all groups providing continuing
education.
Continuing nursing education should assist individual practitioners on the
continued acquisition of knowledge the extension of professional responsibilities laities,
the expansion of interpersonal skills and the improvement of problem soling approach to
professional practice.
Continuing nursing education should serve as a viable means of improving the
professional competence.
Continuing nursing education should include such important concerns as quality
of life and the understanding of the current health problems of modern society.
 Continuing nursing education is concerned with the development of the nurses as
a person practitioner and a citizen.
PRINCIPLES:

Involvement of school and nursing faculty involvement in planning and teaching

the continuing nursing education to improve the standards for the programme.
- An adequate staff is essential to planning implementing and evaluating a
programme
- There should be one director having responsibilities like determination of learning
needs of the nurse population. Development and implementation of a programme
to meet these needs; evaluation of results.
- There should be sufficient number of staff with talent to implement the planed
programme.
There should be advisory staffs, secretarial Administrative, supportive and also
some of the staff for Assistance.

- An advisory committee has to be appointed.

- The community may serve as a liason between the school of nursing and the
health community and full fill a communication and public relations function for
the university.
- Continuing education programmes may be decentralized or centralized.

STEPS IN FORMULATION:
PLANNING:
A successful continuing nursing education programme is the result of careful and
detailed planning.
Broad planning by institution and agency responsible for continuing nursing
education.
Planning is essential to:
Meet the nursing needs use available resources.
Meet needs at all levels.
Avoid duplication and fragmentation efforts.
Help keep at a minimum any gaps in meeting the continuing education needs of
nurses.
 The selection of teaching factually may depend up on the availability of the
persons rather than his exercise as lunching ability planning is an ongoing process, the
rapid technologic advances and proliferation of knowledge demands continuous planning
to meet ever changing learning needs.