How nurses understand the concept of development : implication for management of healthcare organizations

It must be argued that during the last few decades the importance of nurses in healthcare organizations is growing rapidly. They have to undertake more and more complex roles which brings the necessity of adequate professional education and continuing training. Professional development is becoming a professional life-long activity vital from the perspective of the needs of the nursing profession and professional identity of nurses as individuals. Such a professional development has to be seen as part of the development of the whole healthcare organization. The authors of the presented research argue that looking from the practical point of view of healthcare organization management it is important to know how people working in such context understand key organizational concepts and values. Their ways of understanding may influence the practice and contribute to organizational effectiveness. The paper present the results of a study conducted with participation of a group of Polish nurses. The main aim was to find out the answers to three main research questions: How do they understand the concept of development in the context of their profession? What are different aspect or areas of development from their perspective? What are the main factors fostering and inhibiting their development in the context of healthcare organizations that they work in?