Examining Athletic Trainers' Views on Enhancements in Quality of Care Post Continuing Education Conferences

As a vital component of all practicing healthcare providers, continuing education serves as a professional resource in maintaining knowledge and skills. Quality of care improvements has been essential in daily practice for healthcare professionals. How continuing education conferences impact the quality of care improvements for athletic trainers remains unknown. This qualitative research study explores the perceptions of Certified Athletic Trainers on quality of care improvements following attendance at continuing education conferences, providing a greater understanding in this area to better utilize this formal continuing education format. Knowles’s theory of Andragogy and Donabedian’s quality of care model serves as the framework for this basic qualitative study. This study utilized a basic qualitative design, and data were collected through semistructured interviews to explore perceptions of quality of care improvements. Purposeful sampling was used to select specific participants who held the ATC credential and showed a record of attendance at National Athletic Trainers’ Association conferences. Data analysis was conducted using deductive thematic analysis using general ideas, then creating themes, and progressing to specific deductions. Three themes emerged: inspiration and collaboration, conference efficacy, and patient and quality improvements. While the quality of care improvements has always depended on the individual healthcare provider in their respective settings and for their patient population, it is the perspective of the athletic trainers in this study that more implementation of these improvement measures and projects should be included in conference curriculums.