Continuing education in primary care: needs perceived by physicians, pediatricians, and nursing staff

To determine the on-going training (OT) needs expressed by Primary Care professionals in the Murcia region. A descriptive, crossover study using a postal questionnaire, filled in anonymously by the subjects themselves. Primary Care. All the PC health professionals (doctors, nurses, paediatricians) in the Murcia region (n = 1052). 37.93% of the questionnaires were returned (n = 399): 39.14% of doctors, 35.02% of nurses and 43.5% of paediatricians. 94.7% of respondents thought that OT was necessary; and 80.5% thought it should be compulsory. The main learning source was journals, although courses were considered more useful. Limitations on OT were: incompatibility with working hours, lack of financing (for cover) and lack of time to attend courses. Doctors, nurses and paediatricians agreed that the priority OT areas were: "organising the PC team," "recording procedures and programming" and "guaranteed quality". The PC professional who replied to our questionnaire considers that he/she needs on-going training, that this should be compulsory, that courses set up by the administration are useful and that time and financing are the limitations on OT.