Flexible Distributed Learning in Post Qualifying Nurse Education - Literature review Example

Hickie (2004) described the beginnings of the post-registration and education framework (PREP) which was instituted in 1994 to help address the changing needs in health care and protect the public interest by regulating the post-qualification practice. PREP was implemented by the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC), which is now known as the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Under the framework, nursing practitioners are required to embark on at least five days or 35 hours of learning activity relevant to current nursing practice during the three-year period preceding the renewal of their registration.

Since 2000, renewal of nursing registration certificates for nurses who have not practiced their professions in any capacity for at least 750 hours during the last five years prior to application of renewal specify compulsory return to practice programs. Additionally, the PREP continuing professional education (CPD) standard also requires nursing practitioners to maintain a personal professional profile (PPP) where all learning activity will be recorded, and compliance with audit requirements of the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

The introduction of the portfolio compilation requirement during pre-registration prepares registered nurses for the current nursing practice of keeping a PPP (Hickie, 2004). Flexible and distributed learning offers promising opportunities for continuing professional development of nursing practitioners outside of the rigid context of traditional formats. Methodology. Descriptive analysis in the form of a literature review was adopted as the primary methodology. The review of literature proceeded similar to content analysis of unstructured data which results in the summarization of relevant findings as discussed in Wood and Ross-Kerr (2011).

In this paper, findings were analyzed and compiled under three main categories: (1) extent by which flexible and distributed learning is applied for continuing professional development in nursing; (2) how flexible and distributed learning is accepted by nurse practitioners and the academe as an effective form of learning activity; and (3) strengths and weaknesses of the new paradigm for continuing professional development of nurses.Pertinent conclusions were drawn grounded on the findings from the literature review. Method. A search for pertinent resources was undertaken using the following databases (arranged in the order of the initial number of articles retrieved): CogNet Library, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, Google Scholar, PsycARTICLES, CINAHL, Cochrane Collaboration, General Science Abstracts, Education Resource Information Centre (ERIC).