Learning needs assessment as a vehicle for integrating staff development into a professional practice model.

Restructured nursing roles resulting from innovative professional practice models and participative governance systems create a demand for new and expanded competencies. The impact for nursing staff development is the concurrent requirement to develop programs that match the skill/competency requirements of nurses in emerging practice models. This article recounts how one nursing department implemented a learning needs assessment (LNA) process as a means of integrating staff development into professional nursing practice.