Continuing Education for Nurses in Massachusetts

Course expiration date: 7/3/2021

Age-related illnesses are a growing economic and societal burden in the United States (US) and contribute up to 50,000 deaths annually. Ninety-five percent of these fatalities occur in the adult population. Since the development of vaccines for illness prevention and the focus on pediatric population protection, morbidity and mortality rates have declined. This has improved overall public health and has decreased resource utilization and associated costs. However, while the goals to achieve pediatric immunizations have largely been met, the adult population over age 60 has fallen significantly short of reaching national objectives for all 15 recommended vaccines. In 2010, the impact of adult hospitalization and treatment alone for four preventable disease entities, including influenza, pneumonia, herpes zoster, and pertussis, have contributed to care costs in the US that have neared $15 billion. Through a multi-faceted approach that focuses on access to care and prevention through aggressive immunization practices, benefits to our senior population can be met.   

Course expiration date: 9/4/2021

Pain is a complex phenomenon and is experienced differently by every person. The experience of pain and the way people react to it varies with culture, age, and co-existing medical or mental health conditions. It is imperative that nurses have knowledge of the various types of pain, their physiologies, how to assess pain, and how to facilitate pain management. This education program provides an overview of pain, the physiology of pain, its impact on economic and personal status, and pain treatment.

Course expiration date: 6/13/2021

Working with older adults is often a daily occurrence. This course reviews the developmental stages of these individuals as well as the best techniques for communication and educating.

Course expiration date: 11/8/2021

This education program is intended to help nurses enhance the safety of medication administration. To do so, they must not only adhere to the 10 Rights of Medication Administration, but implement accrediting body standards regarding medication safety and provide excellent patient/family education so patients continue the practice of safe medication administration at home.

Course expiration date: 12/17/2021

Safety comes first in patient care and in health-care environments.  However, despite the focus on safety in health-care literature and within health-care organizations, medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States. In fact, it is estimated that more than 250,000 deaths per year are due to medical errors. It is imperative that nurses and their interdisciplinary colleagues work together to establish a viable culture of safety in their organizations. This course presents the latest National Patient Safety Goals as well as strategies to improve the safety of health-care organizations.

Course expiration date: 8/24/2021

Appropriate prescribing practices are critical for all medications, but drugs that are considered controlled substances require additional attention. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), along with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), all have a role in determining the scheduling of prescription medications. As prescribers, it is critical that nurse practitioners understand not only federal but state requirements for prescribing all controlled substances. In addition, inappropriately prescribing opioids, resulting in their misuse and abuse, has led to many changes, including new safety and quality recommendations that must be considered. This course will provide a general review of federal and state controlled substance regulations and the prescribing of all controlled substances in general, as well as focus on clinical and safety considerations when prescribing opioid medications for acute and chronic pain not related to cancer.

This course is intended to provide a hypertension treatment overview. Safe and effective prescribing decisions must be guided by an in-depth understanding of each agent: how it works, how to dose it, anticipated adverse events, drug interactions, etc. When combination drugs are included, there may be as many as 200 different pharmacological options (both individual agents, as well as combination products) that are approved by the FDA for treatment of hypertension. As a result, this course is designed only to highlight the major categories of therapeutics by identifying key products and characterizing them as a class. In an attempt to provide perspective, an effort was made to provide highlights of clinically meaningful outcomes studies for the various drug classes.

Course expiration date: 5/21/2021

This course will discuss the disparities in health care and increased health risks that exist in the LGBT population, as well as ways to provide improved care for this community.

Course expiration date: 6/13/2021

This course describes the scope of chemical disaster events that may create mass casualties and the role of nurses and others in preparedness, immediate response and recovery efforts to reduce injuries and loss of life. Chemical disaster events may range from an isolated poisoning situation to a wide-spread terrorist attack involving chemicals. The course provides descriptions of priorities and preparedness for mass casualty situations and chemical disasters affecting specific clinical practice areas.