Mandatory Continuing Education for Professional Development Program: Perceptions of Nurses in University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu State Nigeria

Education and training on continuous basis have been described as the key investment tools since old skills become obsolete with the advent of new technologies. This study was sought to determine perceptions of nurses towards mandatory continuing education for professional development program (MCPDP) in University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to determine the view of nurses about the relevance of MCPDP, the reasons why nurses participate in MCPDP, and the perceived barriers experienced by nurses with regard to MCPDP. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The target population of study included all nurses working at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla. A sample size of 264 nurses was drawn from a total population of 600 nurses using Taro Yamane formula. A researcher-developed questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics and Research Committee of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla and informed consent was obtained from the respondents before administering the instrument. Data were subjected to descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and the results were presented in tables. Major findings of the study revealed that all 212 (100 %) the respondents were aware of the concept of mandatory continuing education for professional development for nurses. Majority of the respondents had negative perception (2.46 0.99) about the relevance of mandatory continuing education program for nurses. The major reason for participating in mandatory continuing education was attributed to the renewal of license (3.670.47). The major perceived barriers experienced by nurses with regard to MCPDP included lack of a supportive environment, lack of funding, family and child care responsibilities, and inappropriate timing schedule for the program. The researchers therefore recommended that nurses should make MCPDP to be more than a program attached to the renewal of licenses. Various specialist modules should be made available periodically as this will form the climax of efforts towards improving the quality of patients care. More so, accrediting more independent bodies to run update courses for nurses would be beneficial.