Treatment for HIV/AIDS has significantly improved over the last few decades and has reduced morbidity and mortality rates in patients living with HIV/AIDS. The use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) slows the progression of the disease by reducing the amount of HIV in the blood. Determining the most effective treatment regimen is a complex process and will require the use of several medications. The goal of this course is to provide pharmacists in acute care settings with an overview of HIV medication classes and factors influencing treatment decisions.

This course, intended for nurses who frequently encounter wounds while working with a geriatric population, covers the basics of wound assessment. Included: accurately performing wound assessments, standardizing the components of wound assessment, and facilitating wound healing.

As the number of older adults increases, especially those who are older and frailer, the incidence of elder abuse is expected to increase. Mistreatment of older adults often occurs in isolation and often remains undetected. The first step to addressing the problem is to heighten awareness of abuse of the old, in particular among those who serve them or have frequent contact with them. Throughout this course, you will learn about types of elder abuse, indicators, consequences, risk factors of abuse, and interventions. You will have the opportunity to test what you have learned in each section through brief quizzes. The course also offers typical elder abuse case scenarios drawn from actual case material from Adult Protective Services or other elder abuse program caseloads.

Polypharmacy is a widespread problem in older adults as a direct result of chronic conditions requiring an individual to take five or more daily medications. It often leads to adverse drug events that can range from mild to severe or even death. This course discusses polypharmacy, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics. It also discusses basic medication actions and interactions with a focus on the physiological changes and potential reactions seen in older adults. Understanding the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of how medications work on and within the body is important in preventing adverse drug events from polypharmacy.

In patients with symptoms of stroke, early recognition and intervention have been identified as critical factors in stroke outcomes. This includes an initial assessment, a thorough neurological exam, and stabilization of hemodynamic changes. In addition, distinguishing ischemic from hemorrhagic strokes requires time-sensitive assessment parameters, interventions, and diagnostic procedures. Timely diagnoses allow the healthcare team to administer the appropriate treatment options accurately and effectively.

In patients recovering from a stroke, post-hospital care and interventions have been identified as critical factors in favorable stroke outcomes. Improving patient care by managing stroke complications can significantly improve recovery. Given this, nurses and physicians must understand the different types of stroke complications, appropriate interventions, and identify risk factors for recurrent stroke.

In patients with symptoms of acute stroke, early recognition and interventions have been identified as critical factors in stroke outcomes. Evidence-based care can identify, manage, and prevent stroke-related complications. Nurses and physicians must understand stroke management to prevent disability and death. This course aims to present the most up-to-date practices for managing patients with acute stroke.

The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is a tool used to measure the severity of stroke symptoms and aid in identifying the location of the injury. The NIHSS has been shown to strongly predict the likelihood of a patient’s recovery after stroke. 

The goal of this course is to equip clinicians with the knowledge necessary to apply the NIHSS to patients experiencing an acute stroke.

Rates of suicide among youth continue to increase, making it essential for behavioral health clinicians and other professionals working with adolescents and transition-age youth to understand the dynamics of suicide among young people. After providing a foundation on how widespread the problem is and the prevailing theories about the drivers of suicidal behaviors, this course will teach you about how to effectively screen potentially suicidal youth and ways you can intervene to lower their risk. The goal of this course is to provide alcohol and drug counseling, behavioral counseling, marriage and family therapy, nursing, psychology, and social work professionals in health and human services settings with skills for reducing suicide risk in adolescents and transition-age youth.

Obesity affects the entire scope of a person‘s life, including health, social relationships, self-image, and psychological well-being. Now recognizing obesity as a chronic disease that must be managed long term, the American Medical Association has added a new sub specialty to its continuum of care: the obesity medicine physician. As the number of obese people in our society rises, the health care industry must assimilate this aspect of their treatment and care into daily practice. This module discusses the epidemic that obesity has become, reviews current treatments and care plans, and includes the psychosocial impact that being obese has upon the individual and society.

This course provides an overview of essential skills and considerations for engaging in sensitive and effective advance care planning conversations. You will learn the most important decision domains to address as outlined in the FIVE WISHES® framework, how to demonstrate compassionate communication, and conversation skills specific to eliciting values-based end-of-life care decisions.

The goal of this course is to provide healthcare professionals in all settings with enhanced communication skills related to advance care planning.

This course will help you determine the steps you need to take to build and implement an effective advance care planning program and describe how resources from the FIVE WISHES framework program can help. You will learn how to build support, determine goals and measures, and identify processes and standards to ensure your program is making a difference for your care recipients and your healthcare organization.

Advance directives are legal documents with instructions that apply if an adult is not able to make decisions about their own healthcare. They are meant to ensure that a person’s values related to dying, quality of life, and other relevant considerations are honored. It’s important for everyone to have a basic understanding of what advance directives are and when they are applied so personal wishes can be observed at the end of life.

Despite intensive efforts to motivate patients and families to formulate advance directives (ADs), most Americans do not have them and may face a life-threatening illness without a plan to guide their relatives and healthcare providers. Experts stress the need for major changes in the approach to promoting ADs, including a focus on ongoing dialogue between patients and healthcare providers. This course outlines what happens in the absence of an advance directive and identifies how to overcome barriers to implementation. As a clinician, you will learn new ways to involve patients in advance-care planning.

All health centers funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) must have in place a system to improve patient care and outcomes, which is your center’s quality improvement (QI) program. While the primary benefit is improving patient care and outcomes, there are also financial benefits. The Department of Health and Human Services has allocated $36.3 million to fund centers that meet or exceed quality improvement measures. Although most health centers have established some QI functions, this course will enable you to take a comprehensive approach to implementing QI systems. You will learn about the essentials of QI infrastructure, systems, and programs, along with how to identify quality-related problems using proactive strategies, such as peer review and patient satisfaction surveys, as well as reactive strategies, such as patient complaint tracking systems. Also included is how to put the FOCUS-PDSA model into action.

The incorporation of screening for alcohol use disorders in a general medical setting can significantly increase the number of individuals with alcohol use disorders who are identified and treated. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved 4 medications to treat alcohol use disorder, making treatment in primary care and other general medical settings a viable alternative to specialty care. This course will give you valuable information about these medications as well as several medications used off-label, empowering those you serve and increasing the likelihood of their recovery.

Substance use is a growing problem across populations. As a helping professional, you need a basic understanding of how substance use affects your clients. This information will help you to provide support and resources to help clients seek treatment and recovery. In this course, you will explore substance use disorders, how they develop, and their impact on individuals. The course also explains your role as a paraprofessional when working with individuals with substance use disorders. You will be provided an overview of evidence-based interventions and the types of substance use treatment programs available, when additional treatment may be necessary. Detailed examples will help you to apply this information in your own work. The goal of this course is to provide paraprofessionals and peer support specialists in health and human service settings with information on substance use disorders and evidence-based interventions.

The perioperative nurse plays a primary role in the operative process. Knowledge of procedures, appropriate patient assessment, and care management guidelines will positively impact patient outcomes. Patients consider anesthesia to be a major risk of surgery and expect perioperative team members to be their advocates by caring for their pre-, intra-, and post-operative needs and providing safe and effective care. This course discusses anesthetics and adjuvant medications used in the clinical setting, anesthesia-related complications, and the nurse’s role in management of perioperative patients.

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.

This course focuses specifically on early interventions that are designed to reduce suicide risk. You will learn how these early interventions impact suicide risk. You will also learn of examples and the role that programs highlighting connectedness, life skills, and resilience play in preventing suicide. The goal of this course is to provide social work, psychology, nursing, alcohol and drug counseling, marriage and family therapy, and counseling professionals in health and human services with information about community-based, upstream suicide prevention approaches. 

This course provides an overview of how anxiety impacts children and adolescents. You will learn about the specific types of anxiety disorders and the multiple pathways by which anxiety can develop. As you progress through this course, you will learn assessment strategies and evidence-based interventions that you can implement to identify and treat these disorders in children and adolescents.

Opioids are used to treat severe pain but also include serious risks if the medication is misused. The misuse of prescribed and illicit opioids contributes to rising numbers of opioid overdose deaths. This course will provide you with an overview of opioid use disorder, detailed information to gather during a comprehensive assessment, and treatment options to implement with clients diagnosed with opioid use disorder. 

The ECG, an easily mastered tool of remarkable clinical power, can provide helpful and even vital information in a wide range of situations. One glance at an ECG can diagnose an evolving myocardial infarction, identify a potentially life-threatening arrhythmia, pinpoint the chronic effects of sustained hypertension or the acute effects of a massive pulmonary embolus, or determine the likelihood of underlying coronary artery disease in a patient with chest pain. Since the ECG is only as capable as its user, this course will help you to understand the characteristics of atrial arrhythmias and ectopics, as well as their associated clinical implications.

The role of supervisor includes being a leader, a motivator, and a coach when guiding and directing others toward common goals. A supervisor’s success is enhanced with a proven set of characteristics, skills, and experiences that can help you effectively lead your organization, whether you are new to the role or have had some supervisory experience in the past. This course discusses specific skills, the qualities of good leadership, and approaches to enhance communication and time-management strategies to maximize your effectiveness as supervisor.

The patient interview is the most important part of your exam. Gaining the patient’s perspective and learning more about issues important to them can guide you in developing patient-specific care plans. This course will discuss how to conduct patient-centered interviews. You will learn interviewing methods to effectively elicit the important details about a patient's reason for presenting to the clinic. Information will also be presented on how to approach a challenging patient and how to adapt for several specific patient types.

This course will provide you with information about the numerous risk and protective factors of suicide. You will learn effective screening approaches you can use to identify elevated risk. You will also learn how to follow a positive screening with an in-depth clinical assessment, including several different models you can use to guide your assessment. The goal of this course is to provide alcohol and drug counseling, marriage and family therapy, counseling, psychology, and social work professionals in health and human services with skills to identify individuals at increased risk of suicide.

The biopsychosocial model takes a more holistic perspective, emphasizing biological, sociocultural, and psychological factors that relate to the risk of these disorders. This course will present an overview of this model’s primary assumptions, how it differs from other perspectives on substance-related and addictive behaviors, and how it can inform your approach to treatment. The goal of this course is to provide social workers, psychologists, alcohol and drug counselors, marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, and nurses in health and human services with information on how the biopsychosocial model is used in treatment for substance-related and addictive disorders.

This course examines the factors that may contribute to the underutilization of healthcare services, as well as ways to improve cultural understanding and competency in healthcare treatment. More specifically, this course covers the significance of cultural diversity, demographics, as well as individual and cultural diversity factors. The information in this training proposes some helpful conceptual frameworks for embracing cultural considerations in healthcare.

You can better assist your patients who have asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by building care teams in primary care. Learn how to assemble these teams and utilize certain disease-specific checkpoints for improved patient outcomes and health management.

Learn how to identify best practices for building care teams for patients with depression and anxiety, define key checkpoints and patient follow-ups, identify strategies for coordinating care with other providers, and evaluate the care provided by the team.

Diabetes, a very common chronic condition, can be managed by prescribing proper diet, exercise, and pharmaceutical treatments. This course discusses building care teams for these patients, teaching team members key milestones and checkpoints, ensuring medication adherence, and coordinating care with other providers as it relates to diabetes.

Identify checkpoints for managing and preventing the hospitalization of patients with hypertension (HTN), congestive heart failure (CHF), and coronary artery disease (CAD).

 The goal of this course is to provide knowledge about the clinical aspects of managing patients with BN.

Opioid dependence can be caused by the use of prescription opioids (obtained legally or illegally) or the use of illicit opioids (e.g., heroin). It continues to be a growing problem in the United States with opioid-related deaths occurring daily. Often, patients who discontinue opioid use require treatment to prevent relapse or the extreme effects of withdrawal. Buprenorphine is a partial mu-opioid agonist used for the treatment of patients with opioid dependence. It is available as a sublingual tablet, sublingual or buccal soluble film strip, and injection and is used in formulations with or without naloxone. The goal of this course is to educate nurses, pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians in acute care settings about opioid dependence and the therapeutic use of buprenorphine to treat the condition.

The number of cases of nosocomial C. difficile and the proportion of cases with severe and fatal complications have been increasing in hospitals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 250,000 infections requiring hospitalization per year with 14,000 deaths. Healthcare professionals play a vital role in preventing transmission of this pathogen to patients when they pay careful attention to infection-control measures and ensure that everyone in contact with infected patients follows contact (barrier) precautions. 

This final presentation in a six-part webinar series is intended to help both new and experienced staff in the cardiac catheterization lab to prepare for the Registered Cardiovascular Invasive Specialist (RCIS) examination. This comprehensive program includes a review of anatomy and physiology, advanced waveform analysis, shunts and treatment modality, right- and left-heart catheterization, interventional equipment, and commonly used cardiac medications.

This fourth presentation in a six-part webinar series is intended to help both new and experienced staff in the cardiac catheterization lab to prepare for the Registered Cardiovascular Invasive Specialist (RCIS) examination. This comprehensive program includes a review of anatomy and physiology, advanced waveform analysis, shunts and treatment modality, right- and left-heart catheterization, interventional equipment, and commonly used cardiac medications.

This fifth presentation in a six-part webinar series is intended to help both new and experienced staff in the cardiac catheterization lab to prepare for the Registered Cardiovascular Invasive Specialist (RCIS) examination. This comprehensive program includes a review of anatomy and physiology, advanced waveform analysis, shunts and treatment modality, right- and left-heart catheterization, interventional equipment, and commonly used cardiac medications.

This course provides an overview of the autonomic nervous system and its functions, with a focus on the cardiac effects of certain therapeutic agents.

As they age, many patients find themselves developing one or more chronic diseases, but they don’t know how to navigate this country’s fragmented and exorbitantly expensive healthcare system in order to receive appropriate care. Care coordination by the medical team—providing additional services such as education and close monitoring of the disease process—has been shown to decrease healthcare costs while improving patients’ health. Unfortunately, standardized techniques or processes for care coordination are not in place. This course for nurses discusses care coordination’s process, its various components, current efforts, ideas for improvement, and a review of practical applications for your nursing practice.

This course provides detailed information about the pathophysiology, disease trajectory, and unique symptoms experienced by patients with advanced neurological diseases. Learners will identify the clinical features of advanced Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Huntington’s disease as well as best practices for symptom management. In addition, the key clinical indicators and symptoms that should serve as triggers to optimally transition a patient with advanced neurological diseases to palliative and hospice care are presented. The unique disease-related stressors for family caregivers are discussed. The goal of this course is to provide nurses in hospice with knowledge of caring for people with end-stage neurological diseases.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that about 50 percent of American adults have at least one chronic condition. Today's primary care providers have the ability to better manage this population by utilizing care management. This course discusses use of the care management model in the ambulatory care setting to increase patients' access to providers and decrease hospital visits, including readmission. It also addresses the issue of some payment systems not allowing providers to profit from managing chronic conditions.

Care plans are developed to help residents attain and maintain physical, mental and psychosocial well-being while in your care. The purpose of this course is to provide information on the care plan framework so that you can work together as a team to develop comprehensive care plans that maximize the well-being of each resident. The module covers the use of care area triggers, resources and CAA summary so that decision making can be supported and documented in the care of the resident.

This course explains the indications for hysterectomy, a commonly performed surgical procedure. You will learn the different approaches and the areas of special learning needs for women experiencing this procedure. Also covered is post-operative nursing care for women who undergo a hysterectomy, whether that care takes place in a surgery center, a hospital, or at home.

The U.S. is one of just eight countries to see a rise in maternal mortality during the past decade, with a ranking of 60 out of 180 countries for maternal deaths. High-risk pregnancies with mothers who are surviving childhood conditions into adulthood are among the reasons for the high rate; however, a large proportion of maternal deaths are still considered preventable, indicating that further improvement is possible. This course provides comprehensive knowledge about medical conditions the pregnant woman might face and how access to other disciplines such as cardiology, dermatology and rheumatology may improve the health and outcomes for the mother and fetus.

Three different obstetrical scenarios, complicated by a Category II Fetal Heart Rate pattern, are presented to illustrate the importance of clinical context when formulating management plans. Emphasis, characteristics, and potential etiologies of Category II fetal heart rate tracings are reviewed. Management of the patient with a Category II fetal heart rate pattern is discussed, with special emphasis on the importance of the clinical context and fetal heart rate pattern evolution.

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) workgroup standard for fetal heart rate monitoring assessment and categorization, first proposed in 1997 and subsequently updated in 2008 was meant to promote commonality of FHR tracing nomenclature and interpretation. Based on these recommendations, a three-tiered categorization pattern based on the visual assessment of the fetal heart rate pattern was adopted. This module aims to review and apply essential FHR content in several clinical scenarios to highlight an important Clinical Pearl: The Category III tracing is a rare intrapartum FHR pattern that is highly associated with fetal acidemia and adverse neonatal outcomes.

The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increasing in the U.S. and worldwide. However, if the condition is well managed, it can result in a healthy pregnancy. Maternal child health professionals must understand the condition, risk factors, and how to treat it.

A case of obstetrical hemorrhage due to uterine atony, requiring medical and surgical interventions and blood component replacement therapy is presented. Emphasis: A review of obstetrical hemorrhage, etiologies, and treatments is provided. The importance of early recognition and response to excessive blood loss is stressed. Medical and surgical interventions for uterine atony are reviewed. Current recommendations for blood component replacement therapy for massive hemorrhage are discussed.

This course explains how the coordination of benefits works when people have Medicare and certain other types of health coverage. Module 5, Coordination of Benefits, explains the rules that govern payers’ responsibilities when people have Medicare and certain other types of health and/or prescription drug coverage. This module was developed and approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that administers Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the federally facilitated Health Insurance Marketplace. This course is designed for trainers and other information givers who are familiar with the Medicare program. It can be easily adapted for presentations to groups of beneficiaries.

This course explains the eligibility, benefits, and administration of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Also discussed are the implications of the Affordable Care Act on Medicaid and CHIP.

This course explains Medicare-Covered Preventive Services, and was developed and approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that administers Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the federally facilitated Health Insurance Marketplace. It includes information on which preventive services are covered, who can receive them, when said services are covered, how much you pay, and where to get more information.

This course on CMS Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) explains how Medigap policies work with Medicare, what Medigap policies cover, how Medigap policies are structured, and when to buy a policy. Included are definitions of key terms, an explanation of guaranteed issue rights, and where to get information on Medigap rights and protections.

Dementia gradually destroys the areas of the brain responsible for sending and receiving messages, making communication difficult. There are guidelines that you can follow to ensure effective communication with persons with dementia, even those who have severe cognitive impairments. In this course, you will learn how to understand the person with dementia by knowing them as an individual and recognizing common speech patterns, how persons with dementia use behaviors for communicating discomfort, and the communication strategies you can employ to ensure the person receives your message.

In this course, you will learn the essential telehealth components necessary to conduct a clinical assessment, risk assessment, and utilize formal assessment instruments. You will also learn what hardware and software technological resources are needed to connect with clients via telehealth.

The goal of this course is to provide addictions, behavioral health counseling, marriage and family therapy, psychology, and social work professionals in health and human services with information on conducting clinical assessments via telehealth.

Conflict in the workplace is inevitable, because every person is different. However, handling it the right way leads to better relationships, an improved work environment, a stronger team, and personal goal achievement. This course presents techniques essential to handling conflict in the workplace.

Recognizing, understanding, and addressing patient behaviors, as well as the rationales behind these behaviors, is critical to successfully manage patients and protect practitioners and their practices. This course will review three major areas complicating patient care: Drug diversion, SUD, and pain management considerations in patients with SUD.

The goal of this course is to equip nurses, social workers, counselors, and physicians in both acute and post-acute care with how to prevent, identify, and manage substance abuse among residents and/or patients.

Establishing an effective corporate compliance program minimizes the risks and effects of misconduct by helping ensure that everyone adheres to policies and standards. This course covers fraudulent and ethical conduct, laws pertaining to fraudulent conduct, and your responsibility for preventing and identifying this conduct under a corporate compliance program.

 After completing this refresher course on the key action steps in CPR, you will have a grasp on the essential components of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), including the initial first aid steps you can take prior to performing CPR. Through didactic, interactive exercises and vignettes, you will be able to apply this material when you need it most. This course does not replace formalized training and return demonstration that must be completed for competency according to the American Heart Association. This course should only be used as a “refresher” to remind the learner of the key action steps in CPR.

The OR is a complex environment. Highly trained individuals interact in a specialized setting with sophisticated and technically complicated devices, instruments, and equipment. There also are substantial differences among team members related to education, experience, skill level, influence, and formal and informal power. This module will inform nurses and surgical technologists of the evidence-based steps to take to create a culture of safety in the OR.

Crisis is broadly defined as an exceptional event that is disruptive and beyond a person‘s usual coping skills. The goal of crisis intervention is to return individuals or families to the optimum level of functioning they experienced before the crisis. In addition, a potential for growth exists when people develop new and effective coping skills. Nurses need to understand crises and assessment and intervention strategies because they are often the first medical personnel to spend enough time with patients to recognize the signs of crisis.

Life-threatening dysrhythmias can occur in an inpatient setting, even more so in an intensive care unit. Changes to the electrical conduction system can cause sudden hemodynamic instability and cardiac death. Given this, critical care nurses must understand the different types of dysrhythmias, their causes, ECG characteristics, defibrillation, pacing, and nursing interventions.

Therapeutic communication between the nurse, patient, and family can be challenging in high-stress environments. Typically, critical care units have higher acuity levels and intense time constraints, thus hindering effective interactions. However, nurses who receive education in communication methods are more prepared to effectively communicate with their patients and families. Given this, critical care nurses must understand communication barriers, cultural influences, the importance of patient-centered communication, and strategies to increase therapeutic interactions. 

This introductory overview of cultural diversity will help enable you to interact with others of diverse cultures and effectively perform your job responsibilities.

This course will examine the reasons for healthcare disparities among ethnic and racial minorities, the ways in which both the cultural backgrounds of patients and their clinicians can negatively impact patients’ mental health outcomes, and what kinds of actions clinicians can take to provide more effective care to patients of diverse cultures. The goal of this continuing education program is to familiarize nurses, physician, and social workers with the issues in and strategies for providing effective care to mental health patients of diverse cultures.

The Joint Commission's standards for culturally competent patient-centered care went into effect for hospitals in January 2011, and began affecting accreditation decisions in 2012. In today‘s multicultural healthcare environment, caregivers cannot make assumptions about patients‘ behaviors based on their own cultural backgrounds. This continuing education module helps healthcare professionals understand the impact of culture on women‘s health beliefs and practices, and their responses to current approaches to care.

Individual social, spiritual and physiological factors seem to influence the experience of pain. People experience pain differently even within the same cultural group by having more or less of a modulating substance, such as endorphins, within their physiological system. This could explain why the response to pain differs not only among people from different backgrounds but among those from the same ethnic group. There is also evidence that primary care providers underestimate pain severity in their minority patients. This continuing education module helps healthcare professionals become familiar with cultural differences associated with pain perceptions and pain management.

As the population of the U.S. soars in diversity, healthcare professionals must be prepared to care for childbearing families from many cultures. All cultures and families need to be given the same respect; be assured of the highest quality of care; have their religious, ethnic, and cultural values respected and integrated into their care; and have their physical and educational needs met in a way that respects spiritual beliefs and individuality. Knowledge of cultures and the influence they have on women’s perceptions of childbirth are important for achieving positive outcomes. 

The goal of this continuing education course is to improve the ability of healthcare providers to assess and meet the sociocultural needs of childbearing families of diverse cultural and social groups.

This training introduces you to several models to enhance your communication with individuals from a range of diverse backgrounds. You will also learn about cultural barriers to treatment, several health belief systems, and factors to consider in a culturally responsive assessment. It is worth noting that culture is always at play, regardless of the healthcare provider’s capacity to recognize and/or respond to it appropriately.

Employee Cyber Security Awareness Training is more important now than it has ever been. Data breaches and hacking may sound unlikely, but cyber-attacks occur daily. In many cases, businesses are unprepared, because management does not understand the risk. Many companies believe they will not be the target of an attack. The truth is that all companies must prepare for a cyber-attack by having an individual or team in place to protect from such an attack.

This course will provide an overview of innovative ways that data are being applied to improve healthcare costs, quality, and outcomes. You will begin with a broad perspective of what experts are calling the “data revolution” in healthcare, or the “age of big data,” and dive into what this means from a technology perspective. Following this, you will learn how data are being applied in ways never before seen by payers and providers to drive healthcare improvement through an analytic approach.

Next, you will dig down to the micro level of healthcare data application within the payer setting. You will examine the different ways in which data are helping payers to improve overall population health, manage healthcare costs, and inform the creation of innovative pilot programs. Finally, you will learn about the application of healthcare data from the case management perspective within the payer setting. An overview will be provided about member case management selection, the intersection of healthcare data and member preference, and how data are being used to inform best practices through medical necessity criteria and clinical guidelines.

This course is intended for all case managers and care coordinators with payer organizations.

The goal of this course is to provide education to entry-level professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, alcohol and drug counselors, psychologists, nurses, and social workers working in the health and human services field about types, prevalence, causes, and consequences of medical and treatment errors in the behavioral health setting, as well as how to address them and reduce risk of future errors.

Suicide is the 17th leading cause of death worldwide and the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. Early detection, assessment, and effective intervention are vital in caring for patients with medical illnesses who may also be suffering from depression. Patients with medical illness are at risk for depression, and depression may be complicating treatment and the ability to recuperate effectively. Underdiagnosed and undertreated depression may be taking an enormous toll on the resources of both the patient and the family. This course will teach healthcare professionals what makes a patient vulnerable to suicide, recognize and treat depression, and components of treatment plan.

Diabetes is not an uncommon condition in today’s healthcare systemthe U.S.. This high-volume condition can be managed very effectively, but diabetes disease management can also become very complicated. How can patients learn to manage their own diabetes? What strategies are most effective in teaching patient self-care? By creating an action plan with their patients, primary care providers can not only help to improve patient outcomes, but they can also empower the patients to take a bigger role in their own their disease management. When patients take on more responsibility for their care, resources (both time and economic) are freed up and can be allocated to other patients or areas of need. However, creating an action plan requires input from both the primary care provider and the patient, and no two plans are likely to be the same. Factors such as finances, living situation, or other social determinants of health must all must be considered when putting together a plan. A patient’s diet may also play a role. In this module, the topics of action plans, the social determinants of health, and nutritional counseling will be explored.

The goal of this course is to provide case/care management, nursing, and social work professionals with information about diabetes management.

Diabetes, affecting 9.3% of people in the United States, can cause a host of health problems and even lead to death when managed improperly. In fact, it is the seventh leading cause of death in this country. Given this growing problem, it is important to understand how diabetes affects the body and how to help delay its devastating complications. This course for entry-level nurses covers the basics of the disease and its current medical treatments to help you better assess patients’ needs, provide care for them, and problem-solve common medication concerns.

Anxiety disorders, the most common psychiatric illnesses, affect millions of American adults, filling their lives with overwhelming anxiety, fear, and uncertainty out of proportion to any actual danger. These symptoms often persist for significant periods of time, and if not treated, can grow progressively worse. Anxiety disorders frequently occur in conjunction with other psychiatric or physical illnesses, making symptoms even worse. This course provides an overview of signs and symptoms as well as the most effective psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatments available. New and improved therapies can help most people with anxiety disorders lead productive, fulfilling lives. This course will help you recognize anxiety disorders in those you serve and implement the most appropriate form of treatment.

As a behavioral health professional, you know how challenging it can be to understand the complexities of diagnosing and treating personality disorders. Drawing upon guidelines from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) and current empirical literature, this course offers you a comprehensive look at the etiology, categories, and diagnostic criteria for personality disorders while considering differential diagnoses and co-occurring disorders. Lastly, this course offers information on best practices for the treatment of personality disorders.

The two most common trauma-related disorders are acute stress disorder (ASD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The goal of this educational program is to provide nurses, social workers, marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, and psychologists in health and human services settings with information on the diagnostic criteria for acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder, steps in the diagnostic process, and psychological and pharmacological interventions to treat PTSD.

Discussing end-of-life issues is not easy, because few of us are ready to face the difficult choices surrounding death and dying. Regardless of whether or not we acknowledge it, most of us fear death. This course will take you on the journey of facing issues surrounding death and dying. The decisions to be made are difficult for everyone involved: the dying person, their family and loved ones, and the healthcare professionals sharing the experience. Each person and family will have unique needs and cope in different ways. For many patients and their families, this can also be a time of personal growth. These events often provide people with the opportunity to find out more about themselves and appreciate what is most important to them.

Ensuring that a healthcare system is culturally competent can reduce health disparities. Healthcare employees who have effective interpersonal and working relationships are essential to successful healthcare outcomes. Healthcare staff provide care to individuals from many backgrounds, so it is essential that they get proper Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training. DEI training should be integrated into the standard hiring and onboarding process for the entire healthcare workforce. The goal of this course is to provide healthcare employees with training about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

A critical step for service providers in receiving reimbursement is to submit treatment-planning documentation. This course reinforces what you already know about plans of care, while offering suggestions for capturing the real therapeutic relationship on paper. You will learn how to hone in on core principles for clinical documentation; take a fresh look at ways to record your client’s strengths, goals, and treatment objectives; and evaluate methods of accurately representing interventions, outcomes, and discharge plans.

This course will familiarize the learner with basic information concerning domestic and intimate partner violence (IPV). Information about IPV’s prevalence, characteristics, legal protections and risk factors will be presented. The cycle of abuse will be explained along with issues related intimate partner homicide. Screening and intervention protocols will be described along with community resources available to people experiencing domestic and intimate partner violence.

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.

Economic stability is defined as a domain of social determinants of health in the Healthy People 2030 campaign. In this course, you will learn how economic stability relates to an individual’s ability to access resources, such as food, adequate housing, and healthcare. Income and health are strongly, positively correlated (Khullar & Chockshi, 2018). Each of the components of economic stability, which include poverty, employment, food security, and housing stability, are linked to individual health outcomes.

In today’s workplace, the abundance of “noise,” such as technology, multitasking, stress, and information overload, can make it hard to communicate effectively, ultimately costing time and money. But by learning how to communicate clearly, concisely, and professionally, you’ll increase understanding with your coworkers. This course identifies primary verbal and nonverbal cues, explains active-listening techniques, and suggests how to avoid barriers to good communication.

This nursing leadership module educates nurses about trends in the healthcare industry, discusses skills nurses can learn to influence change, and challenges every nurse to become a strong leader and a supportive team member.

In 1986 Congress enacted the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) to ensure public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay. This legislation, plus others, imposes specific obligations regarding certain emergency services, stabilizing treatments, and/or transfers to other facilities. When states’ own statutes are in conflict with EMTALA, state law can be preempted by federal law. This course, for health-care professionals who work in clinical areas in which EMTALA applies, covers EMTALA’s fundamental requirements to provide patients with the care they are entitled to under law. It also equips supervisors to ensure that policies are in place to address EMTALA and that staff members are properly educated.

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.

As a healthcare professional transporting patients to the ED, you may serve patients with symptoms indicative of behavioral health disorders, such as depressive, bipolar, and anxiety disorders. In some situations, the ED provider must administer psychiatric medications. However, if possible, it is prudent to defer their use until the patient is admitted to an inpatient mental health facility or seen as an outpatient. In many instances, the reason for presentation in the ED is an adverse reaction to psychiatric medications.

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is your ability to understand, express, and manage your emotions as well as your level of insight into what the people around you are feeling. Being equipped with EQ can add to your quality of life and career success. In this course, you’ll learn about developing emotional awareness—the bedrock of emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence (EQ) involves the ability to understand, express, and regulate your own emotions, along with awareness of what people around you are feeling. A hallmark skill of EQ is the ability to keep your emotional brain and your thinking brain working together, even in intense or stressful situations. This module discusses how emotions function in the brain, how to choose your response to a situation rather than being hijacked by emotions, and how developing EQ can improve your quality of life.

Caregiving demands a tremendous amount of compassion and empathy. While this can be incredibly rewarding, it can also cause some adverse side effects. This course discusses compassion fatigue—its signs and symptoms, how it can affect you and others, and practical methods of dealing with it.

Stress is part of everyone’s life. While a certain level of stress can motivate one’s productivity, too much stress can leave a person feeling drained and irritable. Stress can’t be avoided, but it’s possible to learn to respond differently to it. This course discusses assessing your own stress levels, recognizing the difference between good and bad stress, identifying stress triggers, and developing a personal stress-management plan.

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) was enacted to prevent patient dumping by hospitals seeking to avoid unrecoverable costs of care for patients without insurance or the ability to pay for medical services. Language within the statute has led to inconsistencies in how it has been interpreted. Patient dumping and inappropriate medical screening examinations (MSEs) are the most common reasons for EMTALA violations (Ladd & Gupta, 2021). This course will describe how key terms are currently interpreted and how they apply to hospitals with a dedicated emergency department (ED). In addition, learners will have an opportunity to review cases where EMTALA violations were alleged and judgments applied by the courts. 

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) face many of the same issues at the end of life as people without such disabilities. They also face additional issues and challenges. As people with intellectual disability (ID) live longer, they outlive family caregivers more frequently. This often requires additional supports in advanced age, different service locations, and additional planning. The number of people in this situation is expected to rise as the “Baby Boomer” generation moves into this age category (Heller, Gibbons, & Fisher, 2015).

This course will introduce basic legal and ethical guidelines for decision making at the end of life. Advanced planning can provide clarity in complex, stressful situations when people are unable to communicate or provide consent. Your knowledge of an individual’s preferences and rights, as well as ethics, will help you support the person you are serving and their families. This course provides basic information about some common medical decisions that are included in an end-of-life care plan, as well as information about specialized healthcare options such as palliative care and hospice.

The goal of this course is to introduce nurses, psychologists, social workers, and qualified IDD professionals to critical issues at the end of life for people with IDD.

Listening skills are an often-undeveloped component of effective communication. Leaders and managers with strong listening skills build more productive and engaged teams and increase their own effectiveness. In this course, you will learn the consequences of not listening effectively and how adapting the techniques of active listening will benefit you. You will develop a greater understanding of why and how managers and leaders must listen actively, not passively, to build stronger teams and increase their impact. You will learn the importance of establishing common ground and practicing empathy as you apply the techniques for becoming a better listener.

This course will offer a blend of ethical and legal information, clinical vignettes, and strategies that can later be applied in therapeutic settings. The content of this course includes information about informed consent, confidentiality, privacy, boundaries, mandatory reporting, and rules for sharing information. The course assumes the learner has a basic understanding of telehealth technologies and formats. To learn more, you can search the Relias library for additional courses related to telehealth.

The goal of this course is to provide addictions professionals, behavioral health counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, social workers, and nurses in health and human services settings with strategies and information for competent and ethical telehealth practice.

Tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug abuse is costly to the U.S., resulting in more than $740 billion annually in costs related to crime, lost work productivity, and healthcare (National Institute on Drug Abuse [NIDA], 2018). The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns, and consequences of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug use and abuse in the general US population. 

This module provides healthcare professionals with information about evidence-based medical therapy, best practice recommendations for the treatment of heart failure, and the role of interprofessional collaboration. It will increase your knowledge about heart failure — how to both recognize and manage it.

Intrapartum fetal heart rate monitoring is an integral part of modern day obstetrics and when properly interpreted, may provide valuable insight into the fetal metabolic state. During labor, the physiologic stress posed by regular uterine contractions and maternal expulsive efforts may adversely impact the fetal acid-base status, leading to changes in the fetal heart rate pattern.

This module aims to review and apply essential FHR content in several clinical scenarios to highlight an important Clinical Pearl: Management of the laboring patient requires that the FHR pattern trends are interpreted in context with the clinical scenario and progress of labor.

 As an employer or supervisor, you need to know what obligations the FMLA imposes on your organization when an employee requests leave from their job. This course will introduce you to key provisions of the FMLA such as which employees have rights under the FMLA and the circumstances under which they are eligible to take protected leave. Then, you’ll learn about your responsibilities both when an employee asks for leave and wants to return to work. Finally, you’ll learn how to comply with the FMLA and avoid potential pitfalls. The goal of this educational program is to provide administrators and human resource professionals with knowledge of FMLA.

About 20 percent of emergency department visits are due to hand and wrist injuries. While most hand injuries are straightforward, many cause long-term complications that may profoundly alter a person‘s ability to work, create, and enjoy life to the fullest. This continuing education program, which includes the steps for preserving an amputated body part, addresses the assessment and treatment of patients with hand trauma.

This course is about harassment in the workplace, including sexual harassment and other types of workplace harassment. It looks at the basic skills needed to deal with situations involving harassment. This course will provide information that will help produce a healthy work environment that is free of harassment. It will also help you understand your role if you encounter harassment in the workplace. The content in this course is applicable to all employees.

The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was implemented in 1996 and has been revised since then. HIPAA can refer to guidelines that protect your ability to maintain your health insurance as you move from job to job or place to place (“portability”). HIPAA can also refer to efforts to simplify the administration of health insurance. These efforts include the creation of national standards for diagnostic terms, insurance forms, and provider identification. Perhaps the most common use of the term for healthcare professionals, however, involves protecting the confidentiality and privacy of healthcare information. In this course, you will learn about parts of HIPAA, especially as they concern nursing and other health professionals and the protection of healthcare information. Because you play a key role in the production of healthcare information, you play a key role in its protection.

While opportunities to share information online have increased, so has the challenge of keeping information private. Learn how to avoid social media’s privacy pitfalls so you won’t run the risk of committing Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violations.

All persons have the right for their health information to be protected from unauthorized access. To ensure that protection, your healthcare organization is required to follow the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which limits the situations in which your employees can use and disclose protected health information (PHI). This course explains the Privacy Rule and how breaches can be prevented.

While the use of technology has improved the delivery and continuity of health care, it also increases the chance that unauthorized persons will be able to access individuals' protected health information (PHI). To protect electronic PHI(e-PHI), your organization and healthcare workers are required to follow the Security Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This course explains the Security Rule and how breaches can be prevented.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects the confidentiality of healthcare information. Learn the basics of individual privacy rights and how HIPAA governs the disclosure of personal information.

Human trafficking is widespread, even within the United States. Victims come in all sexes, genders, nationalities, and ethnicities. This form of modern slavery includes domestic, industrial, and farm labor, but the majority of US victims are unwilling participants in the sex trade. This module covers the information, tools, and resources your health-care team needs to identify, assess, and treat victims of human trafficking. It also provides referral resources for legal and social services.

Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy are very common, and between 50% and 80% of pregnant women experience them. However, the persistent vomiting that characterizes hyperemesis gravidarum is a serious pregnancy complication that without treatment may endanger the life of both the expectant mother and the fetus. It is defined as severe nausea and vomiting that result in weight loss, nutritional imbalance, and dehydration. This educational activity will address the etiology, assessment, and management of the condition.