Planning a continuing education program: the model for health education planning.

1. Development of CE programs for occupational health nurses is integral to professional development. Occupational health nurses are constantly being required to increase and upgrade skills. 2. Evolving issues in health care reform reflect an emphasis on the cost effective, quality care provided by well prepared occupational health nurses. Thus, the need for providing high quality programs and resources for occupational health nurses becomes a challenge for CE providers. 3. The Model for Health Education Planning (MHEP) is used to describe the development of a program. The MHEP includes six phases: initiation, needs assessment, goal setting, planning/programming, implementation, and evaluation. 4. Use of the MHEP ensures that the program planning process is achieved in an appropriate manner. The focus is on meeting the needs of the learner.