CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE INTRODUCTION Rationale of the Study Patient expectations for high quality

health care services lead health providers to improve the educational status of health professionals in order to meet these expectations. Continuing professional development is considered as the systematic maintenance, improvement and boarding of knowledge and skills, and the development of personal qualities necessary for execution of professional, technical duties throughout the individuals working life. Continuing professional development is based not only the needs of the individual but also on the employer needs as well as the profession as a whole (Yfantis, 2010). In June, 2008 the Association of Deans of Philippine Colleges of Nursing co-sponsored a workshop and came up with a consensus regarding the vision, mission and core values of the nursing sector and its strategic objectives. Its vision is to produce globally competitive nurses in 2030 who shall be leaders in promoting the nursing profession in the Asia Pacific Region and that Philippine Nursing will become the top provider of world-class, excellent caring. One strategy to this 2030 roadmap is dynamic leadership through growth and learning perspectives. It underscores the significance of developing human capital by

means of education, training, professional advancement, research, publication of

evidence-based practices, nurse competency programs, and career development. Likewise, nurses have a professional social responsibility to promote respect pluralism, diversity and freedom of expression through training, education, and role modeling. The Philippine Board of Nursing together with the Commission on Higher Education on Nursing Education in April, 2001 created a committee on Core Competency Standards Development. The principal objective of this initiative is to develop competency standards. R.A. 9173 or the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 states that PNA will examine and enforce standards of quality nursing care. This enables the nurse to uphold efficient, ethical, technical, moral, and professional standards of nursing practice taking into consideration of nations health needs. The outcome of this collaboration are the eleven core nursing competencies, namely: safe and quality nursing; communication; collaboration and teamwork; health education; legal responsibility; ethico-moral responsibility; personal and professional development; records management; management of resources and environment; quality improvement; and research. These standards will be the unifying framework in nursing education, regulation and practice. These standards protect the public from incompetent nurses and a yardstick for ethical and professional nursing practice. By conducting this research, a host of problems in the nursing profession maybe reduced.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the training needs of nursing service personnel in Talisay District Hospital in consonance with the eleven core nursing competencies. Within the twelve years of service in the hospital, the researcher observed the hesitance of colleagues in the pursuit of professional development endeavors citing age, competing work and family responsibilities, and financial constraints as hindrances. It was further observed that the Human Resource Management did not conduct training or seminars annually to enhance the nursing service personnels ability in order to provide quality nursing care based on the eleven nursing competencies.