Background:

continuing education of nursing professionals is an important tool for personal achievement and work performance. Updating one’s professional knowledge is essential in order fulfill the social responsibility of offering quality healthcare for patients.

Objective:

to determine the need for post graduate education in the nursing profession.

Methods:

a quantitative, cross sectional study was done among nursing professionals working in different areas of public health and social security in the province of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas from June to August 2018. The universe of study was 540 nursing professionals in which inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, with the sample consisting of 418.

Results:

majority of the professionals who participated in the study work at the second level of health care, these professionals need post-graduate study, which can be a master’s degree or a specialization program. Specifically, there is preference for studying critical care and blended learning is the modality of choice by the participants of the study.

Conclusions:

there is a need for post-graduate studies in the nursing profession. Continuing education will upgrade, broaden and improve the performance of professionals. In addition, it will enhance the quality of nursing care and work competencies of professionals.

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