Continuing Education Courses for Nurses: Elevating Skills and Ensuring Quality Care

Nursing is a profession that demands continuous learning and adaptation. To ensure nurses remain competent and up-to-date with the latest advancements, continuing education (CE) courses are essential. These courses provide nurses with opportunities to enhance their skills, expand their knowledge, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. State nursing boards mandate these courses to maintain quality within the profession, making them a crucial aspect of a nurse's career.

The Importance of Continuing Education for Nurses

Nursing is a lifelong learning process. Continuing education courses for nurses are not a substitute for advanced education, but they can affect the quality of care and patient outcomes. State nursing boards require these courses to ensure that quality is maintained. These courses provide necessary opportunities to improve practice skills and knowledge at every step of the road.

As a registered nurse (RN), a licensed practical nurse (LPN), or advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), you're often required to complete a certain number of continuing education courses to keep your license current. That means to continue working as a nurse, you must conform to these requirements for license renewal at set intervals which is usually every 2 years. This type of continuing education is sometimes referred to as CEs or CEUs - Contact Hours and Continuing Education Units (CEUs). It can usually be completed without spending a lot of money.

Understanding CEUs and Contact Hours

Mostly, professional organizations use the term CE hour as the measurement for mandated continuing education. It is a designation of course time where one hour is equal to 0.10 CEUs. The difference lies in the length of time involved in a learning process and the organization. This measure was designated as Contact Hours. One contact hour refers to 50-60 minutes of actual clock time spent in an educational course or activity in the classroom with an instructor. CE is more of a generic term and it is the abbreviation for continuing education. It can include activities such as seminars, conferences or online classes. One CEU equals 10 contact hours of continuing education classes or training with a qualified instructor.

For the renewal of a license that has been issued for less than three years, the requirement is 24 contact hours or 2.4 CEUs. When it comes to RNs, it’s required to complete 30 contact hours every 2 years. All licensed practical nurses are required to complete at least two hours of training every five years. Your hours must be administered by an approved CE provider, through a specific review process, in order for a CEU to count them. Any certificate includes the number of CEUs earned as well as the number of contact hours. Furthermore, a historical record for each participant is kept by the College Board for at least seven years. Recertification doesn’t count for CE credit. There are numerous states that don’t allow CE or CEUs credits for CPR, NRP, PALs and ACLs courses. Some do allow credit for the original certification, but this isn’t something provided in nursing school and is required for initial nursing employment or specialization. It refers to a required minimum of insurance-related education that license holders have to complete in order to renew their licenses.

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Types of Continuing Education Courses

The landscape of continuing education for nurses is vast and varied, encompassing a wide array of clinical and professional development topics. Here are some examples of continuing education courses:

Management of Psychiatric Emergencies: This course aims to educate healthcare professionals on how to manage psychiatric emergencies in the ED.
Malnutrition in Older Adults: This course provides the healthcare team in the acute setting with information on malnutrition in older adults.
Bone Marrow Biopsies in AML: Bone marrow biopsies play a critical role in diagnosing, staging, and monitoring treatment response in AML.
Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies (DEEs): These conditions, while rare, are challenging to diagnose and effectively treat. This course is brought to you in partnership with our sister company freeCME. Developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs) are seizure disorders that often start in infancy, are often drug-resistant, and are associated with seizures of long duration and major developmental delays or loss of developmental skills entirely.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD): By completing this activity, learners will gain the skills and confidence to determine therapeutic candidacy and conduct appropriate assessments for patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) across the age spectrum, including older and non-ambulatory individuals. They will improve their ability to interpret and apply the latest clinical data to real-world scenarios and make informed decisions about treatment and monitoring.
Home Health Care: Across patient populations, health care is shifting beyond hospital walls and into the home. Join Alice Benjamin, ACNS-BC, FNP-C and Stacey Rice, DNP, MS, RN, CRRN, CCM from BAYADA Home Health Care for a conversation exploring how nurses are leading this shift toward holistic, patient-centered care. The course aims to equip home health nurses with the knowledge of developmental milestones and how to provide support to children with developmental delays.
NIHSS (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale): The Joint Commission requires all patients who receive tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) to be assessed using a full NIHSS. Nurses are trained to perform the NIHSS for monitoring patients after a stroke, specifically those at risk for worsening neurological status. The NIHSS assesses stroke severity. Nurses and other members of the healthcare team can track the patient’s response to treatment by monitoring trends in the NIHSS. With proper training in use of NIHSS, little variance should exist in results among nurses.

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Nurse.com: A Resource for Continuing Education

Nurse.com offers a variety of resources for nurses seeking continuing education opportunities. They provide access to a wide range of courses, license tracking, and career resources.

Membership Options

Nurse.com provides several membership options to cater to different needs:

Standard: Access to 800+ courses that help nurses meet their state CE requirements and advance their skill set. $49.95. 50% off state renewal packages with all required courses and no test required*. 50% off premium courses over 1.5 contact hours. Access to 800+ Courses 1.5 contact hours or less, including state required courses. Certificates upon course completion. License renewal reminders and free CE alerts. One-year access included with subscription
Premium: Full access to our library of 1,000+ courses. Ideal for APRNs or travel nurses who need to meet multiple state requirements. $149.95. Free state renewal packages with all required courses and no test required*. Free access to 1,000+ accredited CE courses, including premium courses over 1.5 contact hours. 25-hours Advanced Practice Pharmacology course ($259 value). Certificates upon course completion. License renewal reminders and free CE alerts. One-year access included with subscription
State Renewal Package: A one-click package for nurses looking to fulfill their state requirements. $35.00. State renewal packages with all required courses and no test required*. Single certificate for total credit hours upon completion of all courses included in the package. (Individual courses do not carry CE credit.) License renewal reminders and free CE alerts

*State packages do not require tests except in states where tests are mandatory, or on state-required topics. Nurse.com makes every effort to provide a course for every state-required topic; some newer requirements may not be available yet. Contact Nurse.com for assistance.

Free Resources

Nurse.com also offers free continuing education for nurses across a wide variety of clinical and professional development topics, designed to help nurses meet state CE contact hour requirements.

Account Features

A free account lets you manage your nurse life in one place. We’ll track your licenses and credentials, remind you when CE is due, and keep your resume and job profile in one place. Search and save jobs, access career resources, take free CE courses, enter monthly giveaways, get exclusive discounts from top brands, and connect with peers in our supportive community.

A registered user account on Nurse.com is free and allows you to track your licenses, credentials and CE, store your resume and profile information, plus more. CE memberships help you meet your continuing education needs and advance your clinical knowledge.

Course History

Yes, all your course history and transcripts will remain intact within your profile. This allows you to easily access your continuing education records and certificates anytime you need them.

Support

For support, contact our Support center here or by clicking on the question mark icon in the blue circle in the lower right corner of your screen.

Additional Resources for Continuing Education

American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN): AACN provides an array of webinars exclusively for nurse educators teaching in baccalaureate and higher degree programs. All webinars offer continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. AACN members have access to over 200 archived webinars free of charge.On-demand webinar means the webinars has been previously recorded. In order to participate in this webinar, you will need to download the WebEx software (if you have not already). This is a one-time free download. View the instructions on how to properly download and install WebEx.I missed the live webcast or want to re-watch it. Go to Past Conference Recordings and click on “Register”.For the QSEN modules: Using the initial login information on the QSEN description, create your free account. This will be valid for 90 days.For the CNL & Leadership Education Modules: Click here to view your Online Learning & Conference Registrations.All webinars, conference webcasts, and learning modules offer continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
NursingCE.com: Didn’t pass the test? No problem! "Great experience! "Very pleasant, good material and easy to navigate. I had to get several credits in a short period of time and this program met my needs perfectly. "Great way to get your CEU's quickly! The tests are great and correct you when its the wrong answer so you learn more without having to restart the test. Need answers?

College Courses as CEUs

Yes, college courses can count as CEUs for nurses, but specific conditions must be met. College courses can be accepted if they are relevant to nursing practice and offered by an accredited institution. College courses usually translate into CEUs through contact hours. For instance, one CEU is equivalent to 10 contact hours of participation in an accredited program. It's essential for nurses to verify with their state licensing board to ensure that the specific college courses they plan to take will be recognized as CEUs.

Contact Hours for RNs

The number of contact hours required to become and remain a Registered Nurse (RN) varies by state and specific licensing boards. Many states allow nurses to choose from a variety of educational activities to earn contact hours, including online courses, seminars, and workshops. Contact hours refer to the actual time a nurse spends participating in a structured educational activity. Typically, one contact hour equals 60 minutes of instructional time. CEUs are a standardized unit of measurement used to quantify participation in continuing education programs. One CEU is equivalent to 10 contact hours of participation.

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