Eureka! Institutional Repository

This thesis is focused on the importance of adult education, and more specifically on the importance of continuing nursing education as an investment in Human Resources Management. This issue has been dealt through a literature review and primary quantitative research. The literature review was deemed necessary for the collection of secondary data, which was then compared with the results of the primary research and greatly assisted in commenting and critiquing them. The primary research was based on a structured questionnaire, consisting of a total of 27 closed-ended questions, and was completed by the nursing staff of different levels of hierarchy, of the Papageorgiou Hospital in Thessaloniki. The findings emphasized the importance and the necessity of continuing nursing education, which was emphasized by the participants (98% of the sample). Furthermore, 64,9% of the population claimed the obligatory character of continuing nursing education. Of course, the provision of sufficient incentives, both personal and professional, is necessary to stimulate the participatory activity of the staff employed in such program. The strongest motivations are staff utilization according to their knowledge, the subvention of the programs and the educational days off and some of the resulting benefits are the update of their knowledge, the improvement of their skills and the boosting of their self-confidence. The benefits for the service are the increased quality of the given care, more able executives, satisfied employees and increase of the efficiency. The main obstacles to their participation were the lack of time and the lack of sufficient financial resources and as it regards for the service, the lack of sufficient staff is the main obstacle for promoting continuing nursing education. In conclusion, in order to characterize successful, the health reforms that are suggested by the National System of Health, must be applied modern rules of management oriented to the rule that the education is an investment for the Management of Human Resources