Facilitating the implementation of lifelong learning in nursing

Lifelong learning in nursing comprises an essential conceptual shift from the notion of the registered nurse (RN) being merely a competent health service incumbent to one who engages in professional learning continuously throughout their career in order to keep their knowledge and skills up to date. Since the 1990s, lifelong learning has appeared as a rhetoric within nursing literature in the UK, with a seemingly general assumption that there is a shared understanding and acceptance of the concept among all nurses. A literature review on lifelong learning shows that the concept comprises a number of components. However, because the literature does not seem to address the application of the concept to nursing, a study that aimed to ascertain RNs' perceptions of lifelong learning, and their views on the mechanisms that would enable effective implementation of the concept, was conducted. This qualitative study entailed individual interviews with 26 RNs and two focus groups with another 12 RNs. The findings suggest that there are positive perceptions as well as certain reservations about lifelong learning among RNs, and that structural mechanisms could be more firmly and equitably anchored. Additionally, profession-based and informal personal networks tend to play a key role in encouraging and supporting learning. The results of the study are configured into a conceptual framework for the implementation of lifelong learning in nursing and possibly in other health professions.