Abstract
The whole dissertation relates to the perceptions and opinions of trained nurses working in the National Health Service as a matter of formulating an overall picture of competencies in general. As a starting point we looked to establish a baseline and then create "triggers". We then decided that we needed three Phases for the whole study. In Phase I - Chapter 6 - we forwarded an open letter to thirty-two individuals asking them to list the more and less important items as perceived by them. Forty items were identified as more important and sixteen less important. Having collected the above items, we were able to proceed to Phase II by forming the more important items into groups and formulating a questionnaire for piloting it to twelve individuals of various grades of nursing staff. The relationship of the forty items identified and the pilot Questionnaire was that of a "trigger" "baseline" aspect. Because of the ranks, roles and ages of the staff, we expected differences in professional roles, values and perceptions. Once piloting had taken place, we proceeded to Phase III, when three hundred Questionnaires were sent to five Regional Health Authorities. For the purpose of collecting these questionnaires a network of linkpersons was devised. This proved to be highly successful as the returns were much higher than we expected. The Questionnaires were collected and the data analysed. The analysis of the data related to the four cohorts and their responses were placed in order of numerical disagreement. The higher the disagreement, the higher the importance was placed upon it. The similarities were not considered as being significant, as these were accepted by all cohorts and therefore we did not consider them as issues for discussion in this study. The "cutting off" point of disagreement among the cohorts was taken as the fortieth question/statement. The reason for this action was due to the vastness of the data collected. Perhaps these might be a baseline for future study. The selected forty statements were "exposed" to two methodologies for creating a "triangulation" among a) collective opinions b) current issues c) initiative approaches The above three were presented in Chapter 8 and the data collection in Chapter 9. Having established the three main questions in Chapters 2 and 3, we attempted to relate the concepts raised by the data collection under each one of the questions/statements. A prolonged and elaborate procedure but yet it appeared to be heuristic in its own entity. Having completed this aspect of the study in Chapter 10, we examined the policy implications in relation to the findings. The study revealed a considerable gulf bet been the expressed commitment to continuing education for nurses on the part of the practitioners and providers and the extent to which that commitment was demonstrated in practice. However, the wide range of practice and apparent lack of a coherent practical/theoretical policy on the matter of concern and recommendations for further research and future action were discussed in Chapter 12. In this chapter we concluded with an epilogue and final statement by stating that: "In rethinking continuing education, nurses have a unique opportunity to offer a new definition of 'reality' for the trained nurses and the nursing profession".