An assessment of education, in-service training and tenure prolongation as methods for enhancing nursing performance

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical basis for considering in-service training, tenure prolongation and continuing education as methods for enhancing nursing performance. Design/methodology/approach A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect data from 532 nurses, who were selected using the simple random sampling method from ten hospitals in Accra North, Ghana. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the study’s hypotheses. Findings The resulting model is of good fit at 5 per cent significance level (χ2=1.492, p=0.222), with in-service training found to be the ultimate method for enhancing nursing performance. The fitted CFA model also shows that in-service training is positively associated with education and tenure at 1 per cent significance level (p<0.001). The overall evidence suggests that training, continuing formal education and tenure prolongation are methods for improving nursing performance. Originality/value Apart from its contribution to the literature, this study applies validated primary data to empirically identify key methods for enhancing nursing performance.