The 'Viewpoints of Nurses about Clinical Application of Continuing Education Programs and its Relationship with Nurses' Caring Behaviors in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in 2018

Abstract

Abstract Background: Continuing education (CE) is one of the effective method to update theknowledge, maintain clinical competence and improve the quality of nursing care. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the nurses' viewpoints on the factors influencing the knowledge transfer achieved from continuing education to their clinical practice and its relationship with their caring behaviors. Methods: In this cross-sectional study a total of 314 nurses working in the medical-surgical wards of four teaching hospital were selected based on stratified random sampling method. Data were collected using the questionnaires of caring behaviors and knowledge transfer from continuing professional education to clinical practice. Results: The results showed that the most common factors that led nurses to use continuing education programs (CEP) in their clinical practice were related to the personal characteristics domain with average of 3.67±0.69 and nature of educational programs with average of 3.21±0.74. In relation to caring behaviors, the mean scores for each of the caring behavior subscales ranged from 3.64 to 4.05. There was a significant positive relationship between personal characteristics factor and nurses’ caring behaviors (P <.001) and there was an inverse relationship between the factor of nature and status of profession with caring behaviors (P <.05). Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated the importance of attention to the personal characteristics of nurses and their training needs in designing educational programs. Reforming the organizational structure by balancing the workforce and the workload of the nurses will lead to the effectiveness of their training and the promotion of their caring behavior.