A systematic review of the impact of post-registration nursing and midwifery education on practice

Aims: The results of a systematic review which aimed to identify and evaluate the impact of post registration nursing and midwifery education on practice from a nurse, midwife, patient, carer, health service and educational provider perspective will be presented.Methods: The systematic review was guided by Barr’s et al (1999) evaluative framework, and a checklist of methodological and inclusion criteria.Results: The review identified 100 relevant studies, mainly of a retrospective, descriptive nature, relying mainly on students’ self reports. These studies were mainly undertaken internally within one educational institution, focusing on the immediate impact of a course, often with just one cohort of students. Few studies were of an experimental nature (type 3 evidence), with one study (Carpenter et al, 2006) meeting both the criteria of type II evidence, and Barr’s et al (1999) criteria. Few studies reported on the impact of midwifery, public health nursing, and doctoral education, whilst no studies were located which evaluated intellectual disabilities nursing programmes. No papers were found which examined the ‘value for money’ implications of post registration education programmes.Conclusions: It is surprising that a comprehensive evidence base of the impact of post registration nursing and midwifery education on practice is currently lacking. There is a need to develop nationally agreed criteria to evaluate such programmes.