Empowering Nurses through Continuous Professional Development: Insights from Various Perspectives

Mai Salem Alharsan^1,

¹MSN – Nurse Educator, Al Khobar Health Network, Eastern Health Cluster, Saudi Arabia

Cite this paper:
Mai Salem Alharsan. Empowering Nurses through Continuous Professional Development: Insights from Various Perspectives. American Journal of Nursing Research. 2025; 13(3):79-88. doi: 10.12691/ajnr-13-3-3

Abstract

Nurses need maintaining the highest level of expertise and knowledge in an ever-evolving healthcare environment through continuous professional development (CPD). Aim: This study examines nurses' attitudes, priorities, and challenges when it comes to continuing professional development, as well as their involvement and ambitions at their workplace. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that was conducted on the affiliated health centres under the Eastern Health Cluster. The tool used is the "Questionnaire for Professional Development of Nurses (Q-PDN)". Results: The majority of the sample are female nurses (79.3%). A third (36.6%) of the study sample holds a bachelor's degree in nursing. Among the participants, (70.3%) have between 11 and 20 years of experience. Among study participants, (27%) hold managerial positions. Participants in continuous workplace-based educational interventions average 4.67 and deviate from the mean by 0.663. There is a good rank of involvement in continuous professional development activities. A number of factors inhibit healthcare professionals from participating in continuing professional development activities, including full employer reimbursement of expenses (Mean = 3.49), whereas supervisors providing necessary time (Mean = 2.58) had the least impact. Both managers and non-managers equally value CPD and encounter similar barriers to engagement; however, the only statistically significant difference lies in their job position and the types of CPD activities they participate in. Conclusion: This study found a high level of CPD engagement among nurses, particularly in in-service and recent formal training. However, financial constraints, limited access to CPD information, time pressures from family commitments, and resource shortages still hinder broader participation. Managerial nurses showed higher engagement in CPD events versus their non-managerial equivalents, reflecting greater access to training opportunities and institutional support.

Keywords:
Continuous Professional Development Empowering Nurses Healthcare education Nurse motivation Nursing workforce Perspectives

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