Deterrents to nurses' participation in continuing professional education as perceived by licensed nurses in Oklahoma.

Abstract

Little is known about the deterrents to licensed nurses' participation in continuing professional education (CPE) in Oklahoma, the licensed nurses' preferred method for obtaining CPE, and the ways in which employers support participation in CPE. A random sample of 78 licensed nurses in Oklahoma completed a 20 item questionnaire and a 40 item Likert-type scale. The questionnaire addressed relevant demographic data about the participants as well as information about their preferred methods for participating in CPE and employer support for CPE. The scale was used by participants to rate and rank potential deterrents to participation in CPE. Data from the questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics and contingency table analysis with cross-tabluation and Chi-square analysis. The sum of ranking points and the mean rating of scale items were used to analyze the scale data.Licensed nurses in Oklahoma perceived the most influential deterrents to participation in CPE to be (a) inconvenient times of the program offerings, (b) lack of fit of available programs with the nurses' schedules, (c) poor reputation of program sponsor(s), (d) indirect cost of attending program offerings, and (e) inconvenient locations of program offerings. The nurses rated inconvenient times of program offerings and the poor reputation of program sponsor(s) as somewhat to moderately influential and the remaining three deterrents as slightly to somewhat influential in deterring participation in CPE. The top three preferred methods for participation in CPE offerings were online classes or webinars, conferences, and workshops. The survey respondents reported that a majority of employers supported participation in CPE by paying for registration fees and travel cost, and by providing paid time off to attend CPE. Nearly one-half of the employers also paid for tuition reimbursement. A majority of the respondents participated either voluntarily or by mandate, which suggested that deterrents to participation did not have a significant effect on the respondents' participation in CPE. The low return rate and differences between the study sample and the target population does not allow for generalization of the findings to all nurses licensed to practice in Oklahoma.