Continuing education for nurses is an absolute necessity. It does not matter what type of nurse you are you must keep up with your skills and with the new technologies in the medical field in order to do the best job you can possibly do. Regular continuing education for registered nurses (RNs) is also a necessity in terms of maintain your license. Attending the best nursing schools is only the beginning.
The requirements for continuing education vary from one state to another. However in most cases the minimum continuing education credit or contact hours is every one to two years. In order to gain their required credits many nurses choose to attend colleges, technical schools or universities. However some nurses do not have a schedule that allows them to fit in attending classes on a campus. For these nurses there are other continuing education opportunities they can look into.
The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) is a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association (ANA). The ANCC happens to be the leading accrediting organization of continuing education for nurses across the globe. This is an excellent place to look for opportunities fro your continuing education credits. The organization provides an extensive list of approved courses as well as offering a wide selection of continuing education programs such as online courses, conferences, seminars and reading materials. It also makes available to nurses resource and review manuals to help prepare them for taking their certification exams or to use as a clinical reference tool for their continuing education needs.
There are courses that are availed to be taken online that can fulfill a nurse’s continuing education requirements. Many organizations offer these such as the ANA. If you become a member of the ANA then many of the courses are free for you to take. Some of the modules include:
• Assessing and addressing Health Literacy
• Basic Genetics and Genomics: A Primer for Nurses
• Walk the Walk to Reduce Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections
• Caring for Patients While Respecting Their Privacy
• Children’s Health- Environmental Health in Health Care Setting
• Disparities in Health Care
• Workplace Violence: The Nurse Victim
These are just a few examples of the modules that are available for nurses. You can learn more about them by stopping by the ANA website to have a look.
The American College Health Association (ACHA) offers a selection of opportunities for nurse s to earn their compulsory continuing education credits. The ACHA holds an annual meeting which is a conference that makes it possible for nurses to earn more than 20 credits or contact hours. To do this the nurses must attend a number of educational programs that relate to a whole host of issues.
To learn more about continuing education for nurses and nursing career options visit the Online Nursing Continuing Education (CE) Directory .
