Training needs analysis. Necessity or luxury?

With the plethora of offerings in post-registration education available to nurses it is at times difficult for individual nurses to identify their current and future needs, and more so to go about meeting those needs through a logical educational or career progression. Nursing and its relationship with other health care professionals is also changing rapidly, and post-registration education, in order to keep abreast of the changes has to evaluate its effectiveness and move forward with programmes of study which actually meet the changing need of nurse practitioners within the society they serve. This article attempts to highlight the importance of needs analysis when considering programme planning in the changing climate of post-registration nurse education.