Pediatric Staff Nurses' Conceptualizations of Professional Development

Despite professional developments' (PD) multiple benefits, many nurses grapple with its meaning. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively examine what PD means to nurses working in a pediatric hospital.

A correlational study design was used. A 33 item survey was used to collect data.

A total of 74 pediatric nurses completed the survey. The average age and years of experience were 33.5 and 8.3 respectively. Continuing nursing education was the highest ranked component while professional organization membership was lowest. The top ranked motivator was to increase patient care knowledge base while salary was lowest. Highest barrier to pursing PD opportunities was family commitments and lowest was PD knowledge. Younger nurses placed more importance on seeking degrees for their PD compared with older nurses. Continuing education was more important to nurses with bachelor's and master's degrees versus those with A.D.N. or diplomas. Younger nurses placed greater importance on PD to expand job opportunities than their older counterparts.

Study findings suggested that most nurses' main motivation to seek PD opportunities was to provide safe, quality care. The fact that committee involvement, research, and professional organization membership were the lowest ranked components suggested that many nurses may need encouragement and education regarding how these too are important components of PD.

Findings may help nurses to further embrace this concept and grow professionally. Approaches for encouraging nurses to seek PD opportunities may need to vary depending upon the nurse's age and education level.