Non-Degree Continuing Nursing Education Needs of Alberta's Registered Nurses

Abstract

Universities in western Canadian provinces have, for the past decade, been major providers of continuing nursing education. For much of the programing provided by these institutions, content and format selection has been based on individual director's or coordinator's perceptions of "what was needed", plus "what was available" by way of instructional and venue resources. In Alberta, a recently completed province-wide survey of non-degree continuing nursing education needs of registered nurses will assist programers in providing offerings tailored to meet their clientele's needs. The most recent province-wide educational needs assesment in Alberta focused on the province's registered nurses' perceptions of their needs for university nursing education and clinical courses (Andrews, 1978). The last formal educational needs assessment designed to identify preferences for content and different methods of delivering continuing nursing education, was conducted in 1971 by the Advisory Committee of the Continuing Nursing Education Program of the University of Alberta. The findings were never published. Since these surveys were conducted six and twelve years ago, respectively, their findings may be of limited relevance today, given the rapid expansion of knowledge and the extensive changes in nursing practice.