title: Continuing professional education: does it make a difference in perceived nursing practice?
abstract: Nursing professional development educators, nurses, and their employers want assurances that continuing professional education (CPE) programs have quality and positively influence nursing practice behaviors and subsequent patient outcomes. The goal of this prospective study was to evaluate a model for measuring perceived changes in expertise and perceived utility and applicability of concepts gained from attendance at three types of CPE generally offered at the American Nurses Association's (ANA) 2000 convention. Perceived nursing expertise was measured at before, after, and 6 months following CPE program attendance. Advantages and limitations for use of this CPE evaluation model are described.
authors.affiliation: Kirkhof School of Nursing, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Underwood
authors.forename: RoAnne
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dahlen-Hartfield
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mogle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003406:Credentialing; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017145:Models, Educational; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013192:Staff Development / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States