Editorial
Are hospitals supporting CE for nurses? “They want you to get continuing education, but then they discourage you. They should appreciate your doing it and pay you for the time.” Alexandra Wall, RN, has reason to believe her hospital administration is discouraging continuing education (CE) for nurses.’ At one time, her hospital granted leave time for the AORN Congress and paid expenses. In 1971, the hospital reduced the benefit to five paid days of leave. This year, the hospital attempted to reduce the leave time for Congress to two days. Wall and Angela Walsh, RN, both staff nurses at Carney Hospital, Dorchester, Mass, filed a grievance with the Massachusetts Nurses’ Association, which has a collective bargaining agreement with the hospital. The arbitrator ruled in their favor saying the nurses should be paid for all five days because it was the past practice of the hospital, and because Congress is an educational and professional meeting. We have heard of situations where OR nurses are not granted leave to attend Congress. They are forced to take vacation time. Do hospital administrations encourage nurses to seek continuingeducation? Do they provide financial support? Are nurses taking advantage of the benefits offered? A nationalsurvey on hospital CE benefits in RN magazine found a “disturbing trend.”2 According to the 321 nurses who responded to the survey, slightly more hospitals are tight-
B4
ening their policies on benefits than are liberalizingthem. The survey found that 37% of nurses receive no pay for time spent in CE courses. Of those responding to the survey, 57% were paid full salary while attending CE activities; 46% get full reimbursement of tuition or fees; and 28% said their hospital picks up the tab for travel expenses. Only 22% said their hospital picked up all expenses. We talked to several OR nurses about the situation in their hospital and found a somewhat brighter picture. Hospitals appeared to be encouraging OR nurses to participate in CE through release time and reimbursement for expenses. All the OR nurses we talked with have paid leave for Congress. Some expenses are paid. “We have two educational funds,” one OR nurse told me. “One from the hospital; another for the department. Nurses usually get everything they ask for.” Another nurse said her hospital pays salaries of employees who attend CE offerings and pays 50% of tuition and fees. She is going back to school, and the hospital is paying half her tuition. A nurse in California says she believes that with the pressure of mandatory continuing education, hospitalsin her area are increasing educational benefits. But when we asked whether nurses are taking advantage of educational benefits their hospitals offer, we received some discouraging responses. “They have to be pushed,’‘ one supervisor said. “We make it as easy as possible and give them time off. But sometimes they do not attend the CE program. I go and check. If they are not there, I take the time away.” Sometimes nurses are willing to attend CE programs if they get time off, but are not willing
AORN Journal, March 1979,V o l 2 9 , No 4
621
to invest their own time. If a workshop is on Saturday and they must spend their own time, they don’t go. At one of the Chapter Seminars, which are held Friday through Sunday, two nurses came on Friday when the hospital paid for their time but didn’t come on Saturday and Sunday, days for which they were not paid. Since the Chapter Seminar is not job-related, their unwillingness to invest their own time seemed to indicate a lack of commitment. Most hospitals and nurses believe nurses should take some of the responsibilityfor their continuing education. Tuition and fees and travel expenses are often shared. “We bargain,” said one nurse. “The hospital might pay the tuition and fees, and we pay the travel expenses. Or they might pay for the airline ticket, and we would pay the tuition.” Again and again I heard that the nurses who take advantage of CE benefits are the same group that is professionally active in other ways. Then there is a group who aren’t interested, who aren’t motivated,who have to be pushed. One nurse in a state with mandatory requirementsfor relicensure has not attended any CE offerings. Now she faces relicensure in a few months, and she has no CE credits. It is discouraging that all hospitals do not recognize that they and their patients benefit from continuing education for nurses. If hospitals do not offer such benefits, nurses can work toward achievingthem by letting their administration know that they regard them as important. Whether continuing education is mandatory or not, it is part of being professional. Nurses who want to be regarded as professional by their colleagues and the public need to look carefully at their own attitudes. Do you take advantage of benefits offered? Do you make sure your hospital knows that nurses want continuing education benefits? Are you ready to act to ensure such benefits? Alexandra Wall and Angela Walsh did.
Elinor S Schrader Editor Notes 1. “Full pay restored for two attending Congress,” AORN Journal 29 (Pre-Congress, February 1979) 464. 2. Lynn Donovan, “Who’s going to pay for all that continuingeducation?” RN 41 (January 1978) 48-51. 622
First course offered at education center AORN’s first continuing education course to be offered in the new education center will be June 4 to 15 in Denver. “The Nurse Manager in the OR: Developing Leadership Skills” is a two-week course designed to increase nurses’ competence in modern management techniques and concepts. Construction on AORN’s education center began in January 1978 and was completed in the fall. The building is designed to house the Education Department staff as well as provide space for classes for OR nurses. The course will provide a background of knowledge in managerial leadership and will explore the implementation of managerial concepts, functions, techniques, and skills as they apply to the surgical suite. Principal topics to be covered are fundamentals of organizational behavior, communications and group process, development of leadership skills, organizational environment and behavior, social environment, and organizational behavior in perspective. The program will consist of 60 h o u r s 4 5 hours of lecture, 12 hours of practicum, and 3 hours of evaluation. Participants will receive 6 CEU at the completion of the course. To qualify for the course, applicants should be currently licensed registered nurses with potential for management responsibility. A minimum of one year’s clinical experience in nursing is also required. Members of the Association of Operating Room Nurses will be given priority in registering for the course. Classes begin at 8 am Monday, June 4 and end Friday afternoon, June 15. Cost of the program is $130. Cost of textbooks (about $12), transportation, housing, and meals will be borne by course participants. Housing is being arranged that will include double rooms at the cost of approximately $7.50 per night per person. For more information, write or call the Education Department, Association of Operating Room Nurses, 10170 E Mississippi Ave, Denver, Colo 80231. The telephone number is (303) 755-6300.
AORN Journal, March 1979,V o l 2 9 , No 4
Are hospitals supporting CE for nurses? “They want you to get continuing education, but then they discourage you. They should appreciate your doing it and pay you for the time.” Alexandra Wall, RN, has reason to believe her hospital administration is discouraging continuing education (CE) for nurses.’ At one time, her hospital granted leave time for the AORN Congress and paid expenses. In 1971, the hospital reduced the benefit to five paid days of leave. This year, the hospital attempted to reduce the leave time for Congress to two days. Wall and Angela Walsh, RN, both staff nurses at Carney Hospital, Dorchester, Mass, filed a grievance with the Massachusetts Nurses’ Association, which has a collective bargaining agreement with the hospital. The arbitrator ruled in their favor saying the nurses should be paid for all five days because it was the past practice of the hospital, and because Congress is an educational and professional meeting. We have heard of situations where OR nurses are not granted leave to attend Congress. They are forced to take vacation time. Do hospital administrations encourage nurses to seek continuingeducation? Do they provide financial support? Are nurses taking advantage of the benefits offered? A nationalsurvey on hospital CE benefits in RN magazine found a “disturbing trend.”2 According to the 321 nurses who responded to the survey, slightly more hospitals are tight-
B4
ening their policies on benefits than are liberalizingthem. The survey found that 37% of nurses receive no pay for time spent in CE courses. Of those responding to the survey, 57% were paid full salary while attending CE activities; 46% get full reimbursement of tuition or fees; and 28% said their hospital picks up the tab for travel expenses. Only 22% said their hospital picked up all expenses. We talked to several OR nurses about the situation in their hospital and found a somewhat brighter picture. Hospitals appeared to be encouraging OR nurses to participate in CE through release time and reimbursement for expenses. All the OR nurses we talked with have paid leave for Congress. Some expenses are paid. “We have two educational funds,” one OR nurse told me. “One from the hospital; another for the department. Nurses usually get everything they ask for.” Another nurse said her hospital pays salaries of employees who attend CE offerings and pays 50% of tuition and fees. She is going back to school, and the hospital is paying half her tuition. A nurse in California says she believes that with the pressure of mandatory continuing education, hospitalsin her area are increasing educational benefits. But when we asked whether nurses are taking advantage of educational benefits their hospitals offer, we received some discouraging responses. “They have to be pushed,’‘ one supervisor said. “We make it as easy as possible and give them time off. But sometimes they do not attend the CE program. I go and check. If they are not there, I take the time away.” Sometimes nurses are willing to attend CE programs if they get time off, but are not willing
AORN Journal, March 1979,V o l 2 9 , No 4
621
to invest their own time. If a workshop is on Saturday and they must spend their own time, they don’t go. At one of the Chapter Seminars, which are held Friday through Sunday, two nurses came on Friday when the hospital paid for their time but didn’t come on Saturday and Sunday, days for which they were not paid. Since the Chapter Seminar is not job-related, their unwillingness to invest their own time seemed to indicate a lack of commitment. Most hospitals and nurses believe nurses should take some of the responsibilityfor their continuing education. Tuition and fees and travel expenses are often shared. “We bargain,” said one nurse. “The hospital might pay the tuition and fees, and we pay the travel expenses. Or they might pay for the airline ticket, and we would pay the tuition.” Again and again I heard that the nurses who take advantage of CE benefits are the same group that is professionally active in other ways. Then there is a group who aren’t interested, who aren’t motivated,who have to be pushed. One nurse in a state with mandatory requirementsfor relicensure has not attended any CE offerings. Now she faces relicensure in a few months, and she has no CE credits. It is discouraging that all hospitals do not recognize that they and their patients benefit from continuing education for nurses. If hospitals do not offer such benefits, nurses can work toward achievingthem by letting their administration know that they regard them as important. Whether continuing education is mandatory or not, it is part of being professional. Nurses who want to be regarded as professional by their colleagues and the public need to look carefully at their own attitudes. Do you take advantage of benefits offered? Do you make sure your hospital knows that nurses want continuing education benefits? Are you ready to act to ensure such benefits? Alexandra Wall and Angela Walsh did.
Elinor S Schrader Editor Notes 1. “Full pay restored for two attending Congress,” AORN Journal 29 (Pre-Congress, February 1979) 464. 2. Lynn Donovan, “Who’s going to pay for all that continuingeducation?” RN 41 (January 1978) 48-51. 622
First course offered at education center AORN’s first continuing education course to be offered in the new education center will be June 4 to 15 in Denver. “The Nurse Manager in the OR: Developing Leadership Skills” is a two-week course designed to increase nurses’ competence in modern management techniques and concepts. Construction on AORN’s education center began in January 1978 and was completed in the fall. The building is designed to house the Education Department staff as well as provide space for classes for OR nurses. The course will provide a background of knowledge in managerial leadership and will explore the implementation of managerial concepts, functions, techniques, and skills as they apply to the surgical suite. Principal topics to be covered are fundamentals of organizational behavior, communications and group process, development of leadership skills, organizational environment and behavior, social environment, and organizational behavior in perspective. The program will consist of 60 h o u r s 4 5 hours of lecture, 12 hours of practicum, and 3 hours of evaluation. Participants will receive 6 CEU at the completion of the course. To qualify for the course, applicants should be currently licensed registered nurses with potential for management responsibility. A minimum of one year’s clinical experience in nursing is also required. Members of the Association of Operating Room Nurses will be given priority in registering for the course. Classes begin at 8 am Monday, June 4 and end Friday afternoon, June 15. Cost of the program is $130. Cost of textbooks (about $12), transportation, housing, and meals will be borne by course participants. Housing is being arranged that will include double rooms at the cost of approximately $7.50 per night per person. For more information, write or call the Education Department, Association of Operating Room Nurses, 10170 E Mississippi Ave, Denver, Colo 80231. The telephone number is (303) 755-6300.
AORN Journal, March 1979,V o l 2 9 , No 4
