The interest of the authors in developing this study was based on the fact that the continued education courses offered at a teaching hospital, located in the southern region of Brazil, always happened in an empirical way, without first carrying out a diagnosis which permits the development of a program related to the needs of the clientele. The quanti-qualitative study, composed by both open and multiple choices questions, was applied to 70% of the nursing staff, from the period of November of 1998 to January of 1999. Analysis of the data allowed the authors to identify the necessary steps for the implementation of a Continued Education Service.
continued education; nursing; diagnosis