Changing nursing practice through continuing education: a tool for evaluation

In light of the current cost-orientated, rapidly changing health service, continuing education providers are challenged to achieve the greatest benefits for the service. Given this culture it is argued that it is essential for nurses to acquire the skills to continually learn, and that for managers there is seen to be a measurable change in a recommended practice or behaviour. To meet these challenges it is essential that continuing educators plan, implement and evaluate programmes in partnership with clinicians and managers. A literature review revealed that most evaluations did not address whether continuing education has resulted in a change in practice. This paper describes a study on the use of goal attainment scaling as an evaluation tool to measure changes in learner behaviour and as a means of promoting self-determination among the participants. It is proposed that goal attainment scaling can be used to measure changes in participant behaviour following an educational programme. In addition, this analysis of participant interviews indicates the tool's usefulness as a self-reporting instrument and this appears to foster the skills of self-assessment and appraisal of performance.