Mandatory Continuing Nursing Education
Mandatory continuing education refers to the ongoing nursing professional development courses aimed at ensuring that nurses remain updated with changes in practice, competent to offer relevant care and maintain their certification (Gallagher, 2007). Continuing nursing education is supported by ANA’s code of ethics and scope and standards of practice.
The purpose of ANA’s scope and standards of practice is to improve the nurses’ understanding of professional expectations in delivery of their services so that they can adhere to the established guidelines. This enables them to be accountable to legal and regulatory bodies and also improve the care provided to patients. Within ANA’s scope and standards of practice, continuing education is seen as a learning experience in which the attitudes, skills and knowledge of nurses are augmented, leading to the enrichment of their contributions to healthcare as well as the achievement of their career goals (American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), 2012). Continuing education is one of the standards of professional development which enables nurses to enhance their practice, maintain competence and achieve career goals. One of the advantages of mandatory continuing nursing education in relation to the scope and standards of practice is that it ensures that nurses are trained properly in their responsibilities so that they can practice within the set guidelines. It also helps in mitigating liabilities such as errors in their practice (Gallagher, 2007). Moreover, it enables them to comply with regulations and be accountable to the relevant authorities. It also serves to assure the public that they are in good hands since the nurses are informed about their standards of practice (Skees, 2010). However, mandatory continuing education goes against the principles of adult learning since they are supposed to engage in learning voluntarily (Gallagher, 2007). Moreover, the public may get a false sense of security since continuing education may not necessarily translate to improved practice.
The purpose of the ANA code of ethics is to guide nurses as they perform their responsibilities to ensure that they adhere to the profession’s ethical obligations and nursing care quality. One of the provisions of the ANA code of ethics states that nurses have the responsibility of maintaining competence and ensuring the continuation of professional and personal growth. Therefore, continuing education enables nurses to achieve professional growth through knowledge development (ANCC, 2012). This promotes competence in the nurses’ professional practice. One of the advantages of mandatory continuing education in relation to the code of ethics is that it ensures that nurses keep up with the changes such as technology, emerging diseases, medical breakthroughs and innovations in healthcare. Nurses are able to remain competent if they are up to date with the latest developments in healthcare. This enables them to serve patients better (Gallagher, 2007). Furthermore, mandatory continuing education enables nurses to improve patient outcomes. Mandatory continuing education also enables nurses to demonstrate professionalism in their ever-changing practice (Skees, 2010). Moreover, it promotes networking among nurses and this enables them to share knowledge and experiences, which may result in improved practice. However, mandatory continuing education does not always lead to competency as nurses may not improve on their practice after undergoing the process (Gallagher, 2007). It also consumes time that could have been spent caring for patients. Moreover, it may be difficult since it is expensive and the curriculum may be inflexible.
Regardless of its cons, mandatory continuing nursing education should be encouraged. This is because it keeps the nurses informed of new development in healthcare thus leading to improved patient care and better outcomes. Such education also is able to acquaint nurses with the changing legal environment of their practices so that, during their practices, they can adhere to expected legal and ethical obligations.
References
American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). (2012). The Value of Accreditation for Continuing Nursing Education: Quality Education Contributing to Quality Outcomes. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Credentialing Center.
Gallagher, L. (2007). Continuing education in nursing: a concept analysis. Nurse Education Today, 27(5), 466-473.
Skees, J. (2010). Continuing education: a bridge to excellence in critical care nursing. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, 33(2), 104-116.
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