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Introduction: lifelong learning is defined as “the process of engaging in organized activities based on performance review and goal setting for good clinical practice, with the ultimate aim of improving the real quality of patient care”. The nurses’ commitment in lifelong learning affects the quality of nursing care, increases the job satisfaction, improves the patient’s outcomes and improves the perception of nurses towards self – efficacy. However, in practice, nurses tend to avoid participating in programs of continuing education, due to the absence of sufficient incentives or due to the numerous obstacles. Aim: The investigation of the educational needs and the incentives of nurses for lifelong education in hospitals in Thessaloniki and in the region of central Macedonia. Methodology: This study was a quantitative survey, with basic tool the questionnaire and the sample consisted of nurses working in the hospitals Gennimatas, Papageorgiou, and the hospital of Giannitsa. the data were passed and processed with spss v21. The statistical analysis carried out includes descriptive statistical analysis, as well as correlations between the different hospitals and all the incentives and barriers to participation in lifelong learning programs. Results: The sample consisted of 196 nurses working in the three hospitals (response rate = 65,33%). nurses who worked in the Gennimatas hospital found more important the motives for developing new professional knowledge and skills, broadening their perspective on the professional role and keeping pace with new developments in nursing. As far as the reasons for not participating in programs of lifelong education, lack of staff, lack of support and encouragement from the management, lack of information on ICT programs, lack of time and inability to be absent from work were the main barriers for the nurses working in Gennimatas, whereas lack of time, the uncomfortable location, the presence of other priorities in the participants’ life, the fact that nurses prefer learning on their own, the lack of enthusiasm with their work and the belief that lifelong learning seminars would not help their profession practically are the main reasons for nurses working in the Giannitsa hospital not participating in these programs. Finally, for the nurses of the Papageorgiou hospital, there were no significant difficulties for their participation in lifelong learning programs. Conclusions: There are significant differences between the three categories of hospitals, with large hospitals of large cities not to present barriers for participation in lifelong learning programs, smaller hospitals of large cities to present problems of motivation from management, and hospitals of smaller regions not to significantly affect the decisions for participation in these programs, since the nurses working in the hospital of Giannitsa considered the barriers concerning their personal beliefs and choices more important.