Continuous Professional Development on Job Performance of Registered Nurses in Ghana

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Continuous Professional Development (CPD) offers nurses the opportunity to improve their knowledge, skills, and also improve their performance in the healthcare setting. The purpose of the study was to examine if there is a relationship between CPD and job performance and to find if there is a significant difference of job performance when sex, age, and clinical experience are considered.
 METHOD: Correlational research design was utilized; 164 registered nurses were conveniently sampled from Ghana. The study utilized a self-constructed survey questionnaire for continuous professional development while Six Dimension Scale of Nursing Performance (SDNS) developed by Schwirian (1978) was adopted and modified to measure the job performance of nurses. The statistical treatments used were Pearson Correlation, t-test, and ANOVA to address the research questions.
 RESULTS: The study showed that there was a moderate positive significant relationship between continuous professional development and job performance. There was no significant difference in job performance when age, sex, and clinical experience are considered. 
 DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION: Healthcare administrators should encourage and advocate for the participation of nurses in continuous learning to improve nurses’ knowledge and skills. Institution policies should be properly aligned to help nurses in the participation of professional roles. Further research should explore other variables in relation to continuous professional development to improve the job performance of nurses.

Effort and reward imbalance factors motivating Namibian professional nurses to participate in continuous professional development: A confirmatory factor analysis

“…Indeed, over-commitment was found to be an intellectual and a motivational arrangement, which is characterised by being excessively involved in the job. In addition, professional development assists professional nurses to perform other roles within the work environments (Badu-Nyarko 2015). Thus, the professional nurses in this study perceived the work environment as welcoming, supportive and providing opportunities to participate in CPD activities.…”

“…There is a growing notion that nurses participate in different continuous professional development activities when they are motivated (Badu-Nyarko 2015). Pool et al (2016) suggested that professional development is largely influenced by employees' values, norms, attitudes and competencies.…”

Awareness, Attitude, Facilitators, and Barriers of Continuing Professional Development among Nurses Working in Tertiary Care Hospitals of Chitwan

“…9 Though there are some beginnings of good practice in continuous nursing education (CNE) and skill training in a few private hospitals. CPD participation is reported for a variety of reasons, including job satisfaction, staff morale, patient safety [19][20][21] , performance appraisal, and career and skill improvement. 22 These findings showed that both personal and professional growth have a significant impact.…”

Factors Influencing Staff Nurses Participation in Continuing Professional Development Programs

“…In a descriptive study explored the factors that affect the performances of nurses. The study revealed that there is a lack of recognition of well-performing employees, the lack of a formal performance assessment system and poor working conditions and not participating in professional development programs (Osei et al, 2019(. The importance of continuing education for nurses is emphasized internationally through the relevant literature. The British Association of Nurses (BAN) states that all nurses are responsible for the way they practice their profession, and therefore they should be constantly taking the steps necessary to maintain and improve their professional knowledge and skills.…”