TY - JOUR
T1 - Continuing professional development among social- and health-care educators
AU - Koskimäki, Minna
AU - Lähteenmäki, Marja-Leena
AU - Mikkonen, Kristina
AU - Kääriäinen, Maria
AU - Koskinen, Camilla
AU - Mäki-Hakola, Hanne
AU - Sjögren, Tuulikki
AU - Koivula, Meeri
N1 - Funding Information:
This study is part of the TerOpe project funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland [grant OKM/61/523/2017]. We would like to acknowledge the Ministry of Education and Culture for providing us this opportunity.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Nordic College of Caring Science
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Future social- and health-care educators will be required to have versatile competence in educating professionals that reflects both the constantly changing health-care environment and delivery of high-quality patient care. Continuing professional development can be defined as a process that aims to increase educators' competence and well-being, along with the effectiveness of an organisation. This study aimed to describe educators' continuing professional development and clarify the contribution of continuing education. The research applied a qualitative approach as only limited information about social- and health-care educators' professional development currently exists.’ Data were collected by group interviews of 35 experienced social- and health-care educators from six institutions of higher education and two vocational schools across Finland. An inductive content analysis yielded 39 subcategories, 11 categories and three main categories, namely, educators' approaches for developing professional competence, barriers to continuing education, and educators' continuing education needs. The educators reported that they maintain and develop their competence in versatile ways; for example, continuing professional development takes place through both formal continuing education and informal collaboration at daily work. Regarding barriers to continuing education, the educators most often cited the lack of planning and a lack of resources, for example, scheduling and financial factors. The continuing education needs of social- and health-care educators are highly individual and should not only reflect organisational goals. The fact that this study only included experienced educators can be considered a limitation, as a sample that also included novice educators may have yielded different perceptions of continuing education and professional development. The results of the research can be utilised when designing the continuing professional development of educators at the individual, group or organisational level.
AB - Future social- and health-care educators will be required to have versatile competence in educating professionals that reflects both the constantly changing health-care environment and delivery of high-quality patient care. Continuing professional development can be defined as a process that aims to increase educators' competence and well-being, along with the effectiveness of an organisation. This study aimed to describe educators' continuing professional development and clarify the contribution of continuing education. The research applied a qualitative approach as only limited information about social- and health-care educators' professional development currently exists.’ Data were collected by group interviews of 35 experienced social- and health-care educators from six institutions of higher education and two vocational schools across Finland. An inductive content analysis yielded 39 subcategories, 11 categories and three main categories, namely, educators' approaches for developing professional competence, barriers to continuing education, and educators' continuing education needs. The educators reported that they maintain and develop their competence in versatile ways; for example, continuing professional development takes place through both formal continuing education and informal collaboration at daily work. Regarding barriers to continuing education, the educators most often cited the lack of planning and a lack of resources, for example, scheduling and financial factors. The continuing education needs of social- and health-care educators are highly individual and should not only reflect organisational goals. The fact that this study only included experienced educators can be considered a limitation, as a sample that also included novice educators may have yielded different perceptions of continuing education and professional development. The results of the research can be utilised when designing the continuing professional development of educators at the individual, group or organisational level.
KW - continuing education
KW - continuing professional development
KW - educator
KW - social and health-care education
KW - vocational education
U2 - 10.1111/scs.12948
DO - 10.1111/scs.12948
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85098158052
SN - 0283-9318
VL - 35
SP - 668
EP - 677
JO - Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences
JF - Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences
IS - 2
ER -