ABSTRACT
The General Household Survey revealed that in 1982, around one third of the adult population of Great Britain reported a long standing-illness, disability or infirmity. If continuing education is to meet the needs of qualified nurses, and is to enable the profession to respond to changes in health care needs, educational opportunities must be planned from a basis of understanding of the use made of existing programmes. This chapter examines research that was carried out in order to discover the ways in which nurses made use of a particular type of continuing education experience. Continuing professional education is defined as “planned learning experiences beyond a basic nursing education programme”. Included in this definition are courses for which a nationally recognised certificate is awarded, and in-service education or professional development programmes, for which no national recognised certificate is awarded. An appropriate career structure is vital to the continued development and satisfaction of individual professionals.
