The professional nurse education program: a work force development model.

Abstract

Invariably, healthcare institutions respond to repeated voids in professional nurse positions by recruiting persons external to the organization, rather than examining their nonprofessional ranks for high achievers worthy of formal career advancement opportunities. The authors describe why and how their professional work force development operates, the demographics of participants, and outcomes, such as retention rate, gains in college preparatory competencies, changes in self-reported psychosocial aspects of participants, influence of work hours on academic achievement, and financial investment.