Nursing Continuing Education Courses

There are dozens of nursing continuing education courses to choose from, but here is a selection of nursing continuing education courses offered online, with a short description of each:

• Acute and Chronic Pain Assessment and Management: Focuses on current assessment and management techniques and includes information about pain types, addiction issues and myths about pain management.
   
• Acute Pancreatitis: Outlines important diagnostic test findings associated with pancreatitis and the expected medical and surgical management of the disease.
   
• Bipolar Disorder: Provides health care professionals with an overview of Bipolar Disorder, current treatment standards and additional clinical information for treating patients with this disease.
   
• Forensic Evidence Collection for Nurses: Emphasis on evidence collection associated with sexual assault. This two contact hour credit course meets the Texas requirement for forensic evidence collection for nurses working in the emergency department.
   
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease: This three contact hour course provides nurses with current information about patients suffering from IBD. Ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and other bowel disorders will be explored.
   
• HIV Case Studies: This four-hour course uses the case study method to compare and contrast the various stages of HIV, treatments that might be used, and common complications. This course is a requirement for nurses practicing in Washington State.

If you are a registered nurse and want to advance your career with an online master's degree in nursing, there are many programs to choose from. The following are just a few examples of the courses you may encounter:

• Theoretical Foundations of Advanced Practice Nursing: The beginning core course for a typical curriculum of a master's in nursing. Students learn the philosophical and theoretical basis for professional nursing practice at an advanced level and will explore personal and professional values and emerging theory in nursing.
   
• Disparity and Social Justice in Health Care: Analyzes how social, cultural, economic and political factors relate to the nature, distribution and meaning of health and illness. Students will examine the concepts of oppression, privilege and social justice as they relate to health disparities, discrimination in health care interaction, and inequities in the health care labor force.
   
• Curriculum Development in Nursing Education: Students will study the theoretical rationale for curriculum development and curricular problems in nursing. Students will incorporate the principles of curriculum design presented in class and in the literature into their own teaching.
   
• Leadership for Advanced Nursing Roles: Focuses on personal and professional development for leadership in advanced nursing roles in health care delivery, clinical research and educational settings. The aim of this course is to help nurses learn how to contribute to improvements in the design and operation of health care and related systems and thus positively impact public health.
   
• Program Planning and Evaluation: Analyzes selected theories and methods of program planning and evaluation in the design, organization and development of health services for defined populations in the community.

No matter what career track you are on, online nursing education is a great option. You can complete the courses on your own time, in your own home, and network with a community of nurses across the country.

_{Sources:
University of Washington, Bothell; NurseCEU.com; RN.com; Texas Board of Nursing.}