The impact of postgraduate education on registered nurses working in acute care.

Since 2007, Health Workforce New Zealand has provided District Health Boards (DHBs) with funding to support nurses undertaking postgraduate education. As a result, a significant number of nurses, many working in general medical and surgical wards, have now completed a postgraduate qualification. Anecdotal evidence for one DHB indicated that there were mixed views with respect to how the increase in the number of nurses with postgraduate education had impacted on patient outcomes.