Determining educational needs of staff nurses: an assessment tool for nurse educators

Nurse educators often require a framework to perform learning needs assessments in the hospital setting. This article presents a tool that can be used by nurse educators to collect data in a setting new to them. The tool, based on principles of adult learning, consists of three sections to reflect the perspectives of the three major stakeholders: nurse manager, staff nurse, and nurse educator. It examines nursing practice issues, orientation, continuing education, certification, and relationships with the multidisciplinary team and community groups.