Continuing education in state hospitals using external consultants

A continuing education project for registered nurses in a state psychiatric hospital was implemented collaboratively by a nurse administrator and two nurse consultants. This program sought to enhance the nurses' knowledge of psychiatric-mental health nursing practice and prepare them to take the American Nurses Association certification examination for psychiatric-mental health nursing. The project was based on the premise that the nursing departments that offer educational services for their nurses foster professional competency and maintain current standards of nursing care. Twenty-one registered nurses volunteered for and completed the 16-week program. Improvements in their knowledge base were evidenced by mean test scores. A t-test analysis indicated a significant difference. The pretest mean score was 70.2%, the posttest mean score 79.4%. Mean scores varied with the education level of the nurses.