Custo de educação continuada para equipe de enfermagem de um hospital universitário público

The purpose of this study was to determine the direct and indirect costs of continuing education training programs offered to the nursing team. This is a cross-sectional study using a quantitative approach. Data collection was performed by reviewing the records of the Nursing Education and Research Division of a public university hospital, in the period between June of 2009 and May of 2010. The data were processed using Microsoft Excel 2003. It was observed that during the study period, 22 continuing education programs were offered at a total cost of 10,256.56 Brazilian Reais; with direct costs accounting for 86.42% and indirect costs for 13.58%. The mean number of participants was 35, and each program lasted a mean of ten hours. This study points to the need for health services to understand the costs associated with education programs and the importance of these programs in training and improving their human resources. Descriptors: Education, Continuing; Costs and Cost Analysis; Nursing.