Continuing education among Chinese nurses: a general hospital-based study.
BACKGROUND
Continuing education (CE) is increasingly critical for nurses to keep abreast of rapid changes in patient care due to advancements in knowledge and technology.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to explore Chinese nurses' perceptions on continuing education, how best CE practices meet their learning needs, and the motivation and barriers nurses face in completing CE.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study of 2727 hospital-employed Chinese nurses from ten general hospitals was conducted from September to October 2010. Nurses' perceptions on CE, as well as motivational and preventive factors in CE were assessed.


RESULTS
The majority of nurses (97.3%) attended CE activities in the last twelve months. More than 92.2% of the nurses were familiar with the value of CE. Nurses expected CE activities to take place within a five-day period and to consist of 2h per activity. The major factors that motivate nurses to participate in CE are the desire to gain and update their knowledge of the newest nursing development and procedures, to improve their practical skills and comprehensive qualities, to maintain professional status and to receive an academic degree. Factors that hindered nurses' participation in CE included time constraints, work commitments, a lack of opportunity, cost of the courses and previous negative experiences with CE programs.


CONCLUSIONS
Chinese nurses considered CE an extremely important measure to further develop their professional competency. Nurses' actual expectations for CE and the motivation and barriers for participation in CE from nurses' individual, family and hospital perspective must be taken into the account in order to make CE programs more effective.
School of Nursing, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, PR China.
Chunping
C
Ni
School of Nursing, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, PR China.
Yan
Y
Hua
School of Nursing, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, PR China.
Pei
P
Shao
National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States.
Gwenyth R
GR
Wallen
School of Nursing, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, PR China. Electronic address: shali50084@163.com.
Shasha
S
Xu
Department of Political Theories Teaching-Research, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province 710032, PR China. Electronic address: jhfmmu@163.com.
Lu
L
Li
D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D005260:Female; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Barriers to CE; Continuing education; Expectation; Motivation for CE; Nurses; Participation; Perception