Current situation of continuing education and its impacts on professional development for clinical nurses with bachelor ′s degree in Sichuan Province

Abstract

Objective To understand the current situation of continuing education and its impacts on professional development for clinical nurses with bachelor′s degree in Sichuan Province and to provide references for clinical training of undergraduate nurses. Methods Totals of 509 undergraduate nurses and their nursing managers from 45 hospitals in Sichuan Province were investigated through questionnaires by convenient sampling. Results About 94.1% of nurses had accepted different forms of on-the-job training in employing unit including the most accepting pre-post training (67.0%) and rotation (54.4%), the more attending academic class and academic conferences (35.4%), attending standardized training (26.5%), the least going out for study (10.0%). Going out for study, short-term academic classes/academic conferences and standardized training had effects on professional development of clinical nurses with bachelor′s degree (P<0.05). Conclusions Nursing managers should constantly provide opportunities of various forms of continuing education for graduated nurses especially for standardized training, going out for study and short-term academic classes/academic conferences based on their needs in different stages to promote the professional development of graduated nurses. Key words: Education, nursing; Nurses with bachelor ′s degree; Continuing education; Professional development