The Effects of Attrition on Implementing and Evaluating a Mental Health Continuing Education Program for Nursing Personnel in Long-Term Care Facilities

BACKGROUND: The effects of attrition on a continuing education program for nursing personnel within long-term care facilities are described. METHODS: Allowing flexible participation can enhance the impact of a continuing education program designed for paraprofessional staff. Increasing the number of nursing staff who experience only a portion of the training has implications for the instructional design and the evaluation. Recommendations to improve accommodation of staff and enhance dissemination of training are offered as well as appropriate evaluation techniques. CONCLUSION: Self-contained short units of instruction allow those with minimal time to benefit from the training. Effective evaluation requires special sampling and measurement strategies. Cross-sectional methods make good use of training resources but usually yield measurable changes only in lower-level program objectives.