The research questions focused on the evidence supporting educational techniques, frequency, setting and media used to deliver instruction for continuing health professional education. The articles analysed included 37 systematic reviews and 32 RCTs. Articles selected for analysis after two quality reviews consisted of systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and programme evaluations published in peer-reviewed journals from 2000 to 2011 in the English language. The initial review of titles and abstracts produced 244 results. MethodsĪ literature review was conducted from multiple databases including PubMed, the Cochrane Library and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) between May and June 2011. An integrative review of the education and training literature was conducted to identify effective training approaches for health worker continuing professional education (CPE) and what evidence exists of outcomes derived from CPE. In-service training represents a significant financial investment for supporting continued competence of the health care workforce.
