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Best Practices: Education
A number of studies have identified staff development as a secondary but significant factor in nurse job satisfaction and ultimate retention.194 The New Hampshire study, for instance, found that 47 percent of respondents had some concern that their education did not prepare them well.195 Suggestions for addressing this need include intensive training programs in specialty areas196 and reinstating orientation, mentoring and preceptor programs.197
Specific Proposals for Education
The original magnet hospitals devoted significant resources to continuing education and offered a variety of proposals that current administrators might do well to adopt. One of the early magnets reported, "the cost for nursing education in our hospital is 2.5 percent of the yearly nursing budget. The investment has ample returns in the quality of care provided patients."198 Another hospital maintained nine full-time nurses in its education department, and a third provided $1,000 per nurse per year for any continuing education they desired.199
Support for outside education was similarly strong. A majority of the original magnets paid some tuition reimbursement for nurses enrolled in degree programs.200 One hospital provided one day off every four weeks for "personal development," to be used in any manner the nurses chose, whether studying for a degree, taking continuing education courses, attending seminars, or watching educational videos in the hospital library. Another hospital provided five days a year for education away from the facility, nurses are paid both time off and tuition.
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