You work for a company that provides services to many people. You may need to discuss personal information about the people you serve, but this must be done thoughtfully. Everyone’s personal information must be kept safe.

About 70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced at least one traumatic event (Sidran Institute, 2018). Most overcome their trauma responses without formal intervention. Others, however, experience persistent symptoms that need formal intervention. The goal of this course is to provide addiction, behavioral health counseling, marriage and family therapists, nursing, psychology, and social work professionals in health and human services settings with information on how to assess and treat trauma- and stressor-related disorders.

No matter how much we know, there is always something more to learn about communication, teamwork, and interprofessional/interpersonal work relationships. Healthcare is a continuously evolving, fast-paced, multigenerational, and multicultural work environment. Communication and teamwork are vital components of safe and effective healthcare. Preceptors must incorporate these elements into preceptorships to successfully transition new staff into ambulatory care and clinical patient care arenas. This becomes particularly important when transitioning preceptees into specialty practice that requires them to work interdependently, such as in ambulatory care. The goal of this course is to provide nurses and nurse preceptors in ambulatory care settings with information about communication and teamwork in preceptorships.

HIPAA rules underlie every service related to behavioral health, and they change to meet evolving trends. There are potentially catastrophic organizational and individual consequences if the current HIPAA rules are not followed. This course will help you to identify potential legal and ethical issues related to HIPAA, improve your compliance approach, and develop more effective risk management strategies.

The goal of this course is to assist alcohol and drug counselors, marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses in health and human services settings in understanding and applying current HIPAA regulations.

Supervisors and managers are challenged by change every day and must consistently demonstrate self-confidence to their teams in the face of these challenges. In this course, you will explore the characteristics, behaviors, and actions of being an effective “change agent,” (one who guides, supports, or leads change) which is a critical role in guiding your teams through change. The goal of this course is to provide managers and supervisors with an understanding of the common reasons for resistance to change and learn ways to counteract it.

Whenever a crime occurs, evidence can be transferred among the perpetrator, victim, and the crime scene. Law enforcement personnel collect and preserve crime scene evidence. Healthcare professionals can simultaneously assist with a crime investigation and provide good healthcare to patients by collecting and preserving evidence from the patient’s body. It is imperative to understand that the collection and preservation of evidence from a patient should never compromise the patient’s safety, autonomy, or legal rights. This course provides an overview of interviewing, collecting, and preserving forensic evidence, toxicology, and documentation.

Nurses encounter victims of domestic violence or intimate partner violence regardless of where they work. Those who practice in offices, hospitals, clinics, homes, or facilities must be aware that living with domestic violence may be part of a person’s daily life. Even though education for healthcare professionals and routine screening in EDs is mandated, many abused people do not receive needed support. Nurses are able to recognize and help victims, yet do not necessarily receive education about domestic violence. This updated CE module provides information nurses need to increase their understanding of and provide support to people experiencing domestic and intimate partner violence.

Disclaimer: Images in this course depict violence that has been inflicted on children and adults. They may be disturbing to some learners.

In an emergency department, information often flows amongst providers and patients quickly because of urgent, sometimes life-threatening, situations. Due to the volume of information being shared, as well as the need for it to be shared quickly and accurately, emergency department providers must be especially careful to safeguard patient information.

The goal of this course is to update nursing professionals in the acute care setting with basic information about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and 42 CFR Part 2.

This course, which was designed to comply with HIPAA law, will help you protect the privacy of the people you provide care for. Allowing unauthorized individuals to see a person’s personal health information can have severe consequences for you and your organization, even if it happens by accident.

The goal of this course is to provide post-acute care staff with basic information about the principles of confidentiality, privacy, and security.

Forensic evidence connects the scene, the survivor, and the suspect together to assist the justice system in solving crimes. Crucial parts of evidence collection include knowing the correct procedures to preserve evidence and prevent contamination. Patients presenting to the emergency department with injuries requiring forensic evidence collection are often afraid and distressed. Healthcare professionals should know how to care for their emotional needs as well as their physical ones. 

Healthcare in the U.S. is fragmented and exorbitantly expensive. Many patients find themselves developing one or more chronic diseases but have little knowledge of how to navigate the healthcare system to receive appropriate care. Many times, these same patients have no insurance or are underinsured, making them less likely to have access to the resources needed.Care coordination is a deliberate process shown to decrease healthcare costs while improving the health of the patient. This course will provide additional information on the process of care coordination including the various components of care coordination, ideas on how to initiate a care coordination process, and practical applications for current practice.

Improving hospital processes surrounding discharge and transitions of care can reduce adverse events and readmissions. Process improvements may also lead to better patient adherence to the treatment plan and their overall experience with care. Healthcare professionals must understand care coordination and transitions of care and how they impact HCAHPS survey results.

The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey is a national standardized survey required for hospitals participating in Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) programs. Survey results are linked to hospital reimbursement from CMS. 

The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was implemented in 1996 and has evolved significantly. While HIPAA regulations have many varying components, the part of HIPAA most relevant to healthcare professionals, however, centers around the protection of an individual’s healthcare information. Because you play a key role in the production of healthcare information, you play a key role in its protection.

The goal of this course is to provide licensed professionals with an understanding of HIPAA, privacy, and security.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, commonly called HIPAA, protects the confidentiality and security of healthcare information. HIPAA creates and protects individual privacy rights for protected health information and governs the use and disclosure of that information.

The goal of this course is to provide all staff with an overview of the principles of HIPAA.

The content of this course is sourced from 45 CFR Parts 160,162, and 164 (2020) or HIPAA-related resources from the Health and Human Services (HHS) unless otherwise noted.

Social media and other forms of electronic communication allow people to instantly share pictures and messages with anyone, anywhere. But as the opportunities to share information online have increased, so have the challenges for keeping information private.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA, was designed to protect individuals’ rights and their personal healthcare information. HIPAA applies to both the storage and transfer of electronic protected health information, so these electronic communications must be handled carefully.

All healthcare organizations must follow a specific HIPAA rule, known as the Privacy Rule. This rule limits the use and disclosure of protected health information, known as PHI. The Privacy Rule also grants people the right to view and correct their medical records, receive copies, or request that copies are sent. The goal of this course is to provide all staff with knowledge of the HIPAA Privacy Rule.

The use of technology has bloomed in the healthcare industry. While technology’s use has improved the delivery and continuity of care, it increases the chance that an unauthorized person will be able to access individuals’ protected health information, or PHI. Therefore, to protect electronic PHI, your organization is required to follow a specific HIPAA rule, known as the Security Rule.

The goal of this course is to describe the Security Rule and ways you can prevent breaches.

Human trafficking is a significant issue in the U.S. and worldwide. Human trafficking victims are often concealed by their traffickers; however, studies show that many victims interact with healthcare professionals while they are being victimized. This places healthcare professionals in a unique position to recognize the signs and risk factors of human trafficking and take steps if they suspect a person may be a victim of human trafficking.

This course will teach you about the various types of child abuse and neglect that are currently the most common, and the physical and behavioral warning signs that may accompany different kinds of child maltreatment. You will learn some general guidelines for mandatory reporting and how you can find out the specific reporting requirements of your particular state.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects thousands of people each year. It affects people from all social and economic backgrounds, ages, sex, genders, sexual orientations, race, and ethnicities. Those who experience IPV often suffer adverse social and health outcomes that make early recognition, identification, and response a priority for professionals working in healthcare and health and human services.

While much of the responsibility for nurse retention has been placed on the administration hierarchy, nurses themselves must take an active role in understanding why colleagues choose to remain in their jobs. Nurses play a vital role in developing and implementing strategies that create an engaging and rewarding work culture. Improving nurse retention also directly improves patient outcomes.

Nurses deliver infusion therapy to millions of patients in hospitals, home healthcare settings, long-term care facilities, outpatient clinics, and physicians’ offices annually. Nursing professionals perform many daily activities involving peripheral catheter insertion and safe delivery of intravenous (IV) fluids and medications. The use of vascular access devices and IV therapy are commonplace in the acute care setting. With that said, clinicians must take caution due to the potentially serious and fatal complications that can occur from inappropriate IV fluid or drug delivery. Patient safety requires that nurses institute safeguards to avoid complications associated with IV treatment.

Every year, workers are injured or killed when the equipment they are working with unexpectedly turns on or the residual energy stored in the equipment is released. Lockout/Tagout, or LOTO, is a set of procedures used to control hazardous energy during the service or maintenance of machine and equipment. The aim of LOTO procedures is to protect workers from the release of hazardous energy.  

The goal of this course is to provide all staff with an overview of lockout/tagout procedures.

Needlestick injuries continue to pose a threat to all healthcare professionals (HCPs). While HIV was once the most concerning organism, today, hepatitis B and C take precedence (King & Strony, 2022). Regardless of circumstances, more than 90% of sharps injuries are preventable (International Safety Center [ISC], n.d.). Therefore, all healthcare clinicians must be diligent to avoid injury even in busy and stressful working conditions. This module will review the current literature on managing the most common bloodborne pathogens (BBP) transmitted by needlestick injuries and evaluating post-exposure prophylaxis.