Professional development

Continuing professional development (CPD) can be defined as ‘the systematic maintenance, improvement and broadening of knowledge and skills, and the development of personal qualities necessary for the execution of professional, managerial and technical duties throughout one’s working life’ (Tomlinson 1993, p. 231) and is at the heart of professional development (Hawkins and Smith 2008). Activities to promote professional development can take the form of both informal and formal activity and can help the practitioner to move beyond prescribed parameters of practice and develop expertise.

Professional regulation is the hallmark of professions and ensures that standards are met and that practice is maintained and developed (Munro 2008). In many countries regulatory bodies require practitioners to meet specific standards for both practice and education. The purpose is to link professional development and the maintenance of competence to protect the public through safe practice. Nurses have a specific professional responsibility to engage with CPD (O’Shea 2008) and employers recognise that their most valuable resource is their staff, but it is often learning and development opportunities that are sacrificed in financially constrained environments. Barriers to professional development often include financial issues, employment demands, work schedules, anxiety, the learning climate, support for learning, lack of job satisfaction (Cooley 2008), individual motivation and lack of financial support from employers (Lawton and Wimpenney 2003).

The employer has an important role in facilitating and encouraging CPD and in investing in staff to ensure that professional learning occurs in the workplace alongside development of the organisation (Gopee 2002). They expect individuals to contribute to their own learning and that of others because of the perceived benefit to the individual and team’s professional growth, future employability and ability to perform their current role effectively. Modernisation agendas for health services include the development of a culture of learning that enables staff to progress and develop. CPD is often an obligatory element of this that values evidence of personal development and this is achieved in various ways.

Literature detailing the relevance of CPD emerged in the 1980s and is mainly UK orientated (e.g. Charles 1982, Brown 1988, Hunt 1991). It focused on philosophical debates, underpinning frameworks, the relevance of continuing education and the challenges associated with implementation. Barriball et al. (1992) noted a lack of empirical data analysing nurses’ perceptions of their continuing education needs. Further debates focused on what constituted an effective continuing professional education (CPE) system (Nolan et al., 1995) or the tensions between the ‘luxury or necessity’ of the endeavour (Perry 1995). Nonetheless, CPE has developed at an accelerated pace. The pioneers of educational change embraced the pursuit of ‘new’ knowledge through various curricular and pedagogical approaches. Concepts central to the professionalisation debate such as pursuing the accumulation of a distinct body of knowledge through research activity and reflective practice have emerged. CPE in orthopaedic and trauma nursing strives to promote the specialist nature of knowledge and the majority of postgraduate/post-qualifying programmes are designed to address this. The ‘artistic’ forms of nursing knowledge such as intuition and experience are increasingly being accepted as valid forms of knowledge.