JultikaUniversity of Oulu repository

The aim of the bachelor study was to find out what kind of experiences continuing professional development (CPD) has received in medical laboratories and how it has been implemented through a literature review. The purpose of the study was to find and compile the literature review as up-to-date research data on the importance of continuing education in medical laboratories. The literature review has been carried out by adapting a systematic literature review. The literature review material was obtained utilizing nursing reference databases from CINAHL, PubMed, Ovid Medline, Scopus, Medic and a few international journals. Research material (n = 8) was selected for the material, whose main subject was continuing professional development and medical laboratory. CPD is used to improve knowledge and skills with various categories and tools but there is similarities and differences in CPD implementation. CPD must be continuous throughout the professional career and it should be based on time- cycles of reasonable duration. Medical laboratory professionals with dozens of years of experience feels that they need less CPD activities than recently qualified laboratory professionals. The laboratory professional keeps important to increase their learning and development of their skills with continual encouragement. Research has shown that CPD has been recognized as an important part of professional development and the use of various tools, such as internet-based, makes it effective. The use of a systematic CPD program should be constantly evaluated to identify the most effective ways of developing professional skills. CPD should be time bounded but there is variation in duration and volume. The use of time and experience years will affect the successful implementation of the CPD.