THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATIONAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAMS FOR NURSES IN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

This research study has sought to establish the importance of educational and professional development programs for nurses in Saudi Arabia. Generally, the narrative review revealed that the issue of nurse education in Saudi Arabia has been sufficiently evaluated in previous research. A number of important observations are made in relation to the state of nursing in the country. First, the nursing course is not popular among students in the country. Low enrolment numbers in nursing colleges in the country leads to an inadequate number of local nurses. In addition, the turnover rate among local nurses in Saudi Arabia is very high. As a result, the country bridges this deficit in nurse population by hiring nurses from foreign countries. This shows that there are inherent weaknesses that make the nursing system in Saudi Arabia ineffective in attracting and retaining local nurses. After a thorough evaluation of the five sources selected, a total of four themes are identified. These are education and patient safety in nursing, education and disaster preparedness among nurses, cultural competence among nurses, and the impact of nursing education on commitment and turnover intentions among nurses. The five studies used in the narrative review are strongly supported by other studies in all four themes. Continuous professional training for nurses is associated with positive outcomes in patient safety knowledge, emergency preparedness, cultural competence, and organizational commitment. However, it is established that low investment in training and education for nurses in Saudi Arabia has caused nursing professionals to perform sub-optimally in each of the identified themes. While this research has been effective in the identification of how important ongoing professional education and training is for nurses in Saudi Arabia, the specific level of significance of education on each of the identified factors has not been established. For example, it is impossible to tell the extent to which the level of commitment of nurses is dependent on education and training rather than remuneration. For that reason, future research should use a quantitative research approach to establish the correlations between education and factors such as cultural competence, patient safety, and emergency preparedness. The findings of such a study should reveal where more investment should be put as far as the design of professional education programs for nurses is concerned.