Address for Correspondence

Objective: To investigate most influential and predicting barriers impeding nurses ’ participation in non-formal CNE programs and suggest strategies to increase nurses ’ participation in such activities. Material and Methods: Descriptive cross sectional study was designed and data were collected through applying convenience sampling technique of three hundred (n=300) nurses. Modified research instrument “Barriers to Participation Questionnaire (BPQ) ” was used to collect data after pilot testing 0.861which indicated as good for further study. Results: Quantitatively, results interpreted as “lower the mean score in each type of barrier, higher the barrier is measured. Therefore, three barriers were found in which administrative barrier was found higher and most prevalent barrier with mean score of 2.19 ± 0.83, work-related barrier was found more predicting barrier with mean score of 2.53 ± 0.85 and financial barrier was found as predicting barrier with the mean score of 3.14 ± 0.84. Family and personal barriers were found as less impending barriers to participation in CNE activities. Conclusion: To keep nurses in synchronized with advanced knowledge in changing health care environment, more opportunities of non-formal CNE programs should be provided in both in and outside of the hospital