Continuing education policy and budgets: a survey of tenets and practice

Continuing education offerings for nurses are essential to ensure competency of staff practicing in a changing health care environment. Fiscal constraint, coupled with staff shortages, has led institutions to examine carefully administrative support for continuing education. This study describes current trends in midwestern institutions' continuing education policy and budget support. Knowledge gained is useful to administrators in education departments who oversee a facility's budget development, to those who administer procedures based on established policy, and to academic settings as they plan outreach continuing education offerings.