A qualitative study of continuing education needs of rural nursing unit staff: The nurse administrator's perspective

SummaryBackgroundThis study reports perceptions of the continuing education (CE) needs of nursing unit staff in 40 rural healthcare facilities (10 hospitals and 30 long-term care facilities) in a rural Midwestern U.S. region from the perspective of nurse administrators in an effort to promote a community-based academic-practice CE partnership.MethodsQualitative data collection involving naturalistic inquiry methodology was based on key informant interviews with nurse administrators (n = 40) working and leading in the participating health care facilities.ResultsMajor themes based on nurse administrators' perceptions of CE needs of nursing unit staff were in four broad conceptual areas: “Cultural issues”, “clinical nursing skills”, “patient care”, and “patient safety”. Major sub-themes for each conceptual area are highlighted and discussed with narrative content as expressed by the participants. Related cultural sub-themes expressed by the nurse administrators included “horizontal violence” (workplace–hospital and LTC nursing unit staff) and “domestic violence” (home–LTC nursing unit staff).ConclusionsThe uniqueness of nurses' developmental learning needs from a situational point of view can be equally as important as knowledge-based and/or skill-based learning needs. Psychological self-reflection is discussed and recommended as a guiding concept to promote the development and delivery of relevant, empowering and evidence-based CE offerings for rural nursing unit staff.