Employers benefit from offering Continuing Education for their Nurses

Today, becoming a nurse means committing to a ‘life-long learning’ philosophy. Not only because continuing education is a professional requirement and each state’s board of nursing requires continuing education hours for license renewal. Taking continuing education (CE) courses expands a nurse’s knowledge and therefore enhances diagnostic and patient care. It ensures that nurses are contemporary practitioners of safe and expert care.

“Nursing education plays a key role in developing knowledge and skills of nurses to provide safe patient care in the healthcare workplace,” remarked Abigail Schneider, MSN, RN, who specializes in clinical content management and education at AMN Healthcare. “In order to provide the best patient care possible, it is vital that nurses have access to peer-reviewed, evidenced-based, continuing education to stay on top of best practices. It also helps them to stay committed to their profession.”

Nursing staff can take CE and certified nursing assistant (CNA) courses on a variety of topics in categories such as clinical practice, leadership, legal aspects of nursing/risk management, and professional topics such as workplace violence and appropriate use of social media. There are also state-required courses that nurses must complete in order to be licensed in certain states.

“Employers who invest in the professional development of their nurses by offering the time, resources and funds for CE courses often see increased job satisfaction among their staff and lower turnover rates.” Rosalind Sloan, MAEd, BSN, RN-BC, program manager/nurse planner for The Center for Continuing Education and Professional Development at the American Nurses Association (ANA).
(AMN Healthcare, 2013)

According to a 2014 study, a nurse’s career satisfaction is dependent on employers’ investments in continuing professional development opportunities so that nurses can continue to grow in their practice and enhance their ability to provide quality patient care. Given that the cost of hiring and training a new nurse is in the tens of thousands of dollars, providing free-of-charge access to CE credit for nursing staff was found to increase nurse satisfaction rates and decrease their intent to leave.
(ANA, 2014)

RN.com offers content licensing and CE group discounts which include a web-based testing system for healthcare employers that can be customized to the needs of their nursing staff.

^{References
Megan Murdock Krischke (2013) How Employers Benefit from Nurses’ Continuing Education. 
Mellisa Renter, MSN, RN; Anna Allen, MSN, RN (2014) How Magnet designation affects nurse retention: An evidence-based research project.}