Compliance with mandatory continuing education in nursing: a hospital-based study

The purpose of this study, which was conducted in a teaching hospital in northern New York, was to evaluate staff nurse and head nurse (HN) compliance with employer mandated continuing education (CE). The hospital's CE policy for nurses required all nursing employees to attend any six CE or inservice education programs per evaluation year. Staff nurse and HN sample groups were studied. The results revealed that 79% of the staff RN sample and 100% of the HN sample complied with employer requirements. The staff RNs attended an average of 13 programs per year, and the HNs averaged 16 programs per year. When comparing these averages to the actual number required, the assumption can be made that nurses attend CE programs for reasons other than complying with requirements.