CPD Nursing - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Center of discussion in this paper is continuing professional development (CPD) as the education that professionals in various fields undertake after their formal training. It mainly consists of any educational or training activity that helps professionals to maintain, increase or develop knowledge, technical skills, problem-solving or professional performance standards. It is therefore a means through which professional can demonstrate their continued commitment to competent performance in a framework that is relevant, fair, transferrable, inclusive and formative. CPD includes self-directed activities as well as formal activities. Formal activities include conferences, workshops and courses whereas self-directed activities include directed reading and preceptorship. Learning in CPD could be delivered in group sessions within the workplace or away from the workplace or work-based programmes specifically designed to meet the needs of individual professional and their employers. Daly et al state that the main aim of CPD is to ensure that nurses and other professionals provide improved healthcare services to their patients and the society at large. In all professions, CPD as a learning initiative could be undertaken either as an initiative of an individual professional or the initiative of professional institutions, governments or employers. CPD is related to lifelong learning in that both CPD and lifelong education involve a continuous building of knowledge and skills. They both occur through experiences encountered in the lifetime of an individual and this means that their learning objectives are meant to address their inadequacies or incompetency in some specific areas an individual has noted. Both CPD and lifelong learning are continuous. This means that the acquisition of knowledge does not have a designated ending period (Bulman and Schutz 2004). Instead, it continues as long as the individual is still willing and capable of learning. Both CPD and lifelong learning are a result of personal interest hence learning is voluntary and self-motivated according to Quinn (1998). Learning in both cases is learner directed hence education or curriculum is designed to meet the needs of the individual and their learning objectives and not individual fitting themselves into a pre-set curriculum and learning objectives. In both cases, the individual has a chance to learn through formal experiences like counselling, training, tutoring, apprenticeship, mentorship or higher education, as well as informal experiences like mass media. CPD and lifelong education are also related in that CPD takes place throughout the working life of a professional. This means it covers the individual’s working lifespan just as lifelong learning. How CPD can improve the standard and quality of nursing practice According to Chinn and Kramer (2004), CPD is a good means through which nurses are helped to have a better understanding ...Download file to see next pagesRead More