an attempt for empowering education: a qualitative study of in‑service training of nursing personnel

abstract background: in‑service training of nursing personnel has a significant role in increasing the empowerment of nurses and promotion of the quality of health services. the objective of this study is to identify and explain the process of in-service training of nursing personnel in the hospitals affiliated with baqiyatallah university of medical sciences in tehran. materials and methods: the present study employed a qualitative approach using corbin and strauss method (2008) in 2015, and examined the viewpoints and experiences of 35 nurses, nurse managers, and educational managers with the in-service education of nursing staffs. according to this method, comparisons, asking questions, flip‑flop technique, depicting personal experiences, and raising red flag were used for data analysis. results: in this study, five major themes including unsuccessful mandatory education, empowering education, organizational challenges, weakness in the educational management, and educational-job resiliency were derived from the results. unsuccessful mandatory education was the main concern of participants and empowering education was the core category derived from this study. conclusions: empowering education emphasizes the practice-oriented and self-directed training. it is an applied education, is participation-oriented, facilitates job functions, and is based on exploration.