Developing interactive continuing education on the Web.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: To meet the continuing education needs of advanced practice nurses, on-line continuing education modules were designed as part of a grant-funded nurse practitioner learning project. METHOD: Three modules were planned from the results of a nurse practitioner (n=187) survey of computer availability and skills, topic preference, and their potential for taking on-line continuing education. RESULTS: The development and implementation of two of the three modules demonstrates the interactive framework, extensive use of links, pre- and posttesting, and on-line registration. The two modules were designed to be interactive, realistic self-studies that closely resemble clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: Outcome data are currently being collected on-line and will be analyzed for efficacy of this delivery system for continuing education.