Using continuing professional development for quality patient care

Research completed by the England Centre for Practice Development on the impact Continuing Professional Development (CPD) has on raising the standard of patient care has been presented to Health Education England.

The report, "Continuing Professional Development for : context, mechanisms, outcome and impact," finds that and organisational culture are key influencers as to whether CPD can have a positive effect and help develop skills to improve .

CPD is the means by which health care practitioners continue to develop their knowledge and skills to ensure they are competent to deliver safe, person centred care and that the care is effective and flexible care to respond to society's changing needs.

Carrie Jackson, Director of the England Centre for Practice Development, said: "The workplace and the culture within it can have either a positive or negative effect upon the success of CPD in developing the skills of professional staff to improve the care offered within hospitals.

"The main purpose of CPD is to deliver safe, person centred care to patients in hospital and provide effective evidence informed care in the workplace.

"Our findings suggest that the focus of the development of an individual professional practitioner should be seen in the context of them as a team leader. So it is not only the individual that reaps the benefits of enhanced knowledge and skills,  but that they are encouraged to pass the changes onto other staff members within their team which will enhance the whole team's effectiveness  within the workplace."

In 2013 The Department of Health published the Education Outcomes Framework (EOF) identifying the need to ensure that the health workforce has the right skills, behaviours and training, available in the right numbers, to support the delivery of excellent healthcare and health improvement.

The intention was for the framework to act as a catalyst for driving quality improvement and outcome measurement throughout the NHS by encouraging a change in culture and behaviour, including a renewed sense of focus on addressing variation in standards and ensuring excellence and innovation in providing education.

The study by the England Centre for Practice Development set out to develop and test a CPD Impact Tool that identifies mechanisms for measuring the impact of learning on individual, team, service and organisational effectiveness in relation to improvements in quality of care and patient outcomes in the workplace.

More information: For detailed insight into the tool, case studies, and recommendations you can view the full report, "Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for quality care: context, mechanisms, outcome and impact," at www.canterbury.ac.uk/health-an … ons-and-reports.aspx

Citation: Using continuing professional development for quality patient care (2015, August 25) retrieved 28 March 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-08-professional-quality-patient.html
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