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This paper draws on empirical data from a study undertaken to explore the outcomes of the applied physiology component of a post-registration diploma in nursing (DN). Most students completing the DN were utilizing their new bioscience knowledge in clinical practice, and reported increased participation in interprofessional discussions and team decisions. Respondents found themselves better able to monitor and evaluate doctors' decisions and this led to friction with some medical colleagues. However, the strongest resistance came from senior nurses, very few of whom had completed advanced nursing courses in bioscience and who were generally unwilling to allow respondents to develop new roles. General managers were also perceived as a major barrier to change. There is little evidence of tangible benefits to the nurses themselves: most saw the DN qualification as a way of protecting their status as professional nurses in the face of managerially driven organizational change, rather than as a route to occupational advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns one of the main problems facing continuing nurse education, that of matching the learning needs of the individual nurse with the needs of the care setting. This endeavour is inescapable because of the necessity for giving high quality care within financial restraint. Modern information technology, it is suggested, can be helpful in fulfilling the task more easily. A theoretical framework is introduced as a possible solution for developing a computer program which, it is the hope of the author, will be available in the not so far future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to understand what impact nurses perceived continuing professional education (CPE) to have on the quality of nursing care. Given that CPE will become mandatory once the necessary legislation has been implemented, the value and worth of CPE with regard to the quality of nursing care, in both a consumer-led and financially-driven NHS, merits serious consideration. Little research has been conducted into the real impact that CPE has on the quality of nursing care and this paper begins by providing an overview of the current debate within the profession. The method chosen for the study was qualitative and 18 nurses from a large hospital in the South of England were interviewed. The data were analysed using the grounded theory method and three categories emerged. The categories are described in detail and reveal some of the problems with which the nursing profession is faced. The study demonstrates how issues of finance were particularly high, with service managers sometimes negating nurses’ CPE needs. However, the study reveals the real importance that nurses attatched to CPE in supporting their professional status and the real impact that CPE and knowledge have on professional competence and the quality of patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]