Medicine is one of the most important pursuits of humanity. The ability to save and prolong life doesn’t just enhance the longevity of individuals, but it has the potential to alter the course of human history. However, with constant advances being made in medical science, medical staff needs to update the information they work with continuously. It takes more than studying MSN FNP programs online to be the best family nurse practitioner you can be; it takes a dedication to the unique blend of art and science, of feeling and thought, of instinct and knowledge, to do it well. If those skills aren’t being constantly updated then you may struggle to keep up as the landscape of patient care evolves.
Updating Information
Where information is life-saving, ensuring that it adheres to the most recent knowledge in the field is paramount to ensuring that you’re offering patients the best care possible. This is reflected not just in the realities of the position, but in the law. Most States require their nurses to complete something called Continuing Education credits (aka CEUs Continuing Education Units). These credits are gained through attending courses that are specifically designed to update a nurse’s existing information with the latest relevant findings. These courses are essential to not only maintaining a nurse’s license, but many places also use them as a requirement for maintaining their employment.
Not only are there requirements for performing the CEU courses to maintain employment and licensing, but the educational bodies offering these courses often need to meet a series of strict criteria for the course to be considered a legitimate credit. Relevant CEs must be accredited by a professional body such as the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or other approved providers. CEs must also meet state requirements, and be appropriate for the nurse’s level of expertise or qualification. Nurses can choose to pursue CEs that interest them or are outside of their state, however, these will not count towards the CEU requirements for their place or State of employment.
How Can Nurses Update Their Education?
Although there are strict regulations around CEs and what constitutes a valid continuous education on their part, nurses have a wide variety of tools to enhance or update their medical knowledge.
Nurses can attend conferences that are hosted by official nursing institutions across the nation. These conferences provide an opportunity to attend lectures and workshops, as well as mingle and network directly with experts and industry leaders. Conferences also allow nurses rare opportunities to preview new technology and learn about new laws and processes in the course of their work.
Of course, not everyone can simply go to a conference. It’s time-consuming and often costs quite a bit of money in terms of admission, transport, travel, and accommodation. If attending a conference isn’t on the cards, nurses do have access to the next best thing, webinars and seminars. Webinars are online seminars are essentially mini-conferences. There is a wealth of nursing webinars online, and although they lack the physicality of conferences, they do allow for further learning and interaction with industry experts and colleagues.
As well as all this, there are formal classes taught in physical classrooms that provide additional training to qualified persons. For example, the Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) certification offered by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACCN) is a form of classroom training that nurses can choose to further their scope of care.
Many CEU courses can also be undertaken online, meaning that Nursing staff have the convenient option of receiving their CE credits without ever having to leave the house. However, just as with physical in-person courses, these courses require accreditation by an authoritative body (usually the American Nurses Credentialing Centre ANCC) to be officially counted towards a nurse’s CE criteria.
Growth And Learning
Part of the fundamental truth of human existence is that we only exist as we do now because of our ancestor’s ability to learn and adapt. Without adaptation and learning, the apes that existed before us would never have learned to use bones, rocks, sticks, and other components to kick off the Neolithic era that laid the evolutionary foundations of our modern civilization.
Learning is the ability to grow, the ability to grow is what charts our course as a species. If we can’t trust those in charge of our health and care to practice this ability following the discovery of new information, then our nation’s healthcare is doomed to fall behind. Without updated knowledge, we will not be able to tend to a constantly evolving body, in a constantly developing world.
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