Continuing Education Preferences, Facilitators, and Barriers for Nursing Home Nurses

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Management
• Rural Health

Background:

• Identifies a gap in understanding continuing education (CE) needs for nursing home nurses in rural Illinois.
• Highlights the importance of CE for maintaining clinical skills and professional development in long-term care settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To ascertain the specific continuing education requirements of nursing home nurses in rural central Illinois.
• To identify factors that facilitate or impede nurses' ability to access and participate in CE programs.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Educational Needs Assessment questionnaire for data collection.
• Employed descriptive statistics to analyze CE preferences, facilitators, and barriers.
• Conducted independent samples t tests to compare CE needs between administrative and staff nurses.

Main Results:

• Surveyed 317 nurses across 34 facilities; top needs centered on clinical problem-solving.
• Administrative nurses reported greater needs in professional issues, management skills, and quality improvement compared to staff nurses.
• Identified key barriers: rural location, need for vacation time, and insufficient staffing for program attendance.

Conclusions:

• Continuing education needs for Illinois nursing home nurses align with findings from Arizona and North Carolina studies.
• Barriers to CE are predominantly organizational (e.g., staffing, scheduling) rather than individual limitations.
• Emphasizes the need for organizational strategies to overcome barriers and support nurses' professional growth.