Evaluating the Effectiveness of Continuing Education Programs in Enhancing Nursing Competency Levels

Posted: Nov 10, 2023

• Harper Brooks
• Nadia Barrett
• Colton Shaw

Abstract

The dynamic landscape of healthcare delivery necessitates continuous professional development for nursing professionals to maintain and enhance clinical competency. Continuing education programs represent a cornerstone of nursing professional development, yet the empirical evidence supporting their effectiveness in genuinely improving competency levels remains surprisingly limited. Traditional evaluation approaches have predominantly relied on participant satisfaction surveys, pre- and post-test knowledge assessments, and self-reported confidence measures, which provide insufficient insight into actual clinical competency enhancement. This research addresses this critical gap by developing and implementing a comprehensive, multi-dimensional evaluation framework that captures the complex nature of nursing competency across cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains. Nursing competency encompasses far more than the acquisition of factual knowledge; it involves the integration of critical thinking, clinical judgment, technical skills, interpersonal abilities, and ethical reasoning in complex, often unpredictable patient care scenarios. The challenge in evaluating continuing education effectiveness lies in measuring these multifaceted competencies in ways that reflect real-world clinical performance. Previous research has largely failed to establish clear causal relationships between continuing education participation and measurable improvements in patient outcomes or clinical performance indicators. This study introduces several novel methodological approaches to address these limitations. First, we developed an artificial intelligence-driven analytics platform that processes multiple data streams including electronic health record interactions, simulation performance metrics, and direct clinical observations to generate comprehensive competency profiles. Second, we implemented a longitudinal design tracking competency development over time.