Abstract
The research was undertaken to ascertain the views of trained nurses on the need for ongoing professional education and the availability of such education as perceived by nurses in one Health Region. The main tool used was a questionnaire developed for the research, for which two ordinal scales were devised. Some questions were dichotomous, some open-ended and two questions contained four-point scales. The sample of 284 nurses contained respondents of two grades, Charge Nurses and Nursing Officers; and from two divisions, general nurses and midwives. These nurses were from forty-five hospitals which were situated in urban and rural areas. The hospital size varied from less than fifty beds to more than two hundred beds. The results indicated that Charge Nurses in the general divisions exhibited low levels of satisfaction with the facilities for ongoing education provided for them. Midwives, who have statutory 'refresher' courses were more satisfied than general nurses. Nursing Officers in the general divisions were more satisfied than Charge Nurses. Respondents were aware of facilities for post-basic specialist training and realistic in their perceptions of other facilities. These findings are discussed, their limitations identified and areas requiring further research identified.