Continuing professional development opportunities for nursing staff

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We all know that continuing professional development (CPD) is a professional responsibility that all nurses need to partake in. As an educator, I frequently hear comments that the times of our classes don't fit with staffs' schedules, they won't drive in for 1-hour classes, and that continuing education caters to day shift nurses. Plus, due to the acuity of our patients, nurses don't have the time to attend classes anymore during their shift.

What tips and ideas do you have that supports nurses to attend continuing education opportunities so that they can maintain and/or increase their competency? How does your staff perceive CPD? What are processes you have put into practice to mitigate the numerous hindrances and barriers many nurses seem to have today regarding CPD? Thanks in advance for your comments.

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

God, that is the challenge huh? I just took a similar job and that issue is the gigantic elephant in the room. Getting the manger to agree to pay for training is the first hurdle, then as you say, why would staff want to drive in on their day off? Although I'm just getting started, I have scheduled some training at 4 or 5 pm. Night shifters can reasonably attend and it is fine for the day staff. It is vital to make the education effective and relevant. I'll let you know if I find a good answer.

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Specializes in Hospice.

I schedule all of our inservices to be offered at 1pm, 2:30pm, and 9pm to offer convenient hours for all shifts. I try to vary the days of the week that I schedule these between Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (Mondays and Fridays just don't seem to work well).

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Specializes in EDUCATION;HOMECARE;MATERNAL-CHILD; PSYCH.

I am responsible for the education and the competency of all levels of nursing staff working different shifts. After going through weird hours to get continuing education to everybody, I started using technology. The nurses love it. I occasionally give face to face in-services when I have to assess for competencies. It is very exciting to discover different ways to teach electronically.

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Specializes in ER, ICU.
I am responsible for the education and the competency of all levels of nursing staff working different shifts. After going through weird hours to get continuing education to everybody, I started using technology. The nurses love it. I occasionally give face to face in-services when I have to assess for competencies. It is very exciting to discover different ways to teach electronically.

What technology? How?

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Specializes in EDUCATION;HOMECARE;MATERNAL-CHILD; PSYCH.

I use Prezi, Quizlet, Power-points and Google+. I mass email in-services and evaluate comprehension with quick quizzes. I also use Mosby online to teach and evaluate some competencies. For NRP recertifications, they do the exam online. The megacode is face-to-face. WIth google+, I send them a journal to read. After a week, we will get together on google+ for discussions.

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Specializes in kids.

Medline University on line instruction that comes with CEU/Contact hours. Wide variety of info.

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