Determining the Educational Needs of Emergency Nurses in Educational Hospitals of Iran, Tehran, and Shahid Beheshti Universities of Medical Sciences through Delphi Technique, 2013

Introduction: Having trained and experienced personnel is an essential in an emergency ward. Nowadays, nursing knowledge is constantly developing and four year undergraduate nursing course cannot meet these growing needs, therefore, it is necessary that nurses receive professional education according the ward they are working in. The first step in any curriculum planning is to assess educational needs. The purpose of this study is to determine the emergency nurses’ educational needs in educational hospitals of Tehran, Iran and Shahid Beheshti universities of medical sciences. Methods: This need assessment study was conducted using Delphi technique. Study population included faculty members of three schools of nursing and midwifery of 3 medical universities, educational supervisors, head nurses, and emergency ward managers. 40 volunteer experts were selected through purposeful sampling, and participated in three Delphi rounds. Results: 109 educational needs in four domains of care, education and counseling, research, and management had been determined during three Delphi rounds. The highest educational needs were related to care domain (78 items). Other needs were in domains of education (10 items), research (11 items), and management (10 items). Conclusion: Applying the results of needs assessment performed locally and considering basic needs of our country in future planning for training professionals, can lead to the training of nurses who will be successful in long term and this will be associated with health, economic, cultural and social benefits.