The Keys to Successful Online Continuing Education Programs for Nurses

Abstract

Asynchronous online tutorials that award continuing education units without cost and provide knowledge about computers and nursing informatics were made available to registered nurses in Southern California. Four hundred seventy-three nurses enrolled; 52% (246) completed tutorials. Nonsignificant differences in the number of tutorials completed were found across characteristics of participants, meaning that nurses were similarly disposed to participate regardless of age, educational preparation, experience, practice setting, or ethnicity. They tended to overestimate their computer capabilities at the time of enrollment and abandoned the tutorials when they encountered technical problems. Nurses need live workshops teaching computer basics, Internet skills, and how to enroll in and run asynchronous programs. Marketing of online programs should be multifaceted, including live and electronic strategies.

Education and Information for Practicing School Nurses

“…A study that evaluated the use of online continuing education for school nurses about diabetes management in children, reported an online course offered improvement in patient care (Bachman & Hsueh, 2008). Access to computers was not identified as a barrier and a course being online was seen as a strength of a program (Ellery, McDermott, & Ellery, 2007;Sweeney, Saarmann, Flagg, & Seidman, 2008). Charles and Mamary (2002) reported that 85% of nurse practitioners had access to the Internet, similar to findings in other studies.…”

Supporting completion of an online continuing professional development programme for newly qualified practitioners: A qualitative evaluation

“…Other factors include design effectiveness and quality of the learning material accessed online, web usability, in terms of navigating the site, and the usefulness and relevance of the course material (Atreja et al, 2008;Wong et al, 2010). Personal factors such as preferred learning style also influenced user experience satisfaction; demographics, practice setting and computer proficiency were less influential (Atreja et al, 2008, Sweeney et al, 2008, although the IT proficiency of participants should be taken into account when considering the design of the online resource (Wong et al, 2010).…”

Predictors of Attrition for a Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) Blended Learning Training Program

“…One common challenge with online CE courses is that fewer participants complete them, especially when they have no fees . Several theories have been developed over the decades to offer insight into attrition.…”

“…These theoretical frameworks also have informed CE attrition research. For example, studies have examined the impact of personal factors on attrition, and found that participant demographics do not influence attrition substantially . On the other hand, participants who have less comfort and experience with computers might have more difficulty maneuvering a learning management system, which could lead to dropping out .…”