Veterans are 1.5 times more likely to die by suicide than non-veterans (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs [VA], 2022). This course will explain the specific factors that increase suicide risk in veterans. You will also learn about assessment and intervention approaches used to manage suicide risk in this population.

The goal of this course is to provide knowledge to addictions, behavioral health counseling, case management/care management, marriage and family therapy, nursing, psychology, social work professionals, and physicians in health and human services settings about suicide prevention strategies for veterans.

Sexuality and gender identity have received significant attention in the last few decades across the spectrum of health and human services. This module presents a brief overview of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community and its history within society and healthcare systems. It offers definitions of key concepts related to sexuality and gender identity, as well as general implications for clinical education, practice, and research. This topic is constantly evolving, requiring healthcare professionals to continually need education on this topic. The goal of this course is to provide nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, social work, speech-language, and pathology/audiology professionals with education around the historical context of the LGBTQ+ population and best practices when interacting with and providing care for the LGBTQ+ population.

Sexuality and gender identity have received significant attention in the last few decades across the spectrum of health and human services. This module presents a brief overview of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community and its history within society and healthcare systems. It offers definitions of key concepts related to sexuality and gender identity, as well as general implications for clinical education, practice, and research. This topic is constantly evolving, requiring healthcare professionals to continually need education on this topic. The goal of this course is to provide nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, social work, speech-language, and pathology/audiology professionals with education around the historical context of the LGBTQ+ population and best practices when interacting with and providing care for the LGBTQ+ population.

Pain is often underestimated and undertreated in the pediatric population due to many factors. As a result, children’s health outcomes are directly impacted without proper recognition and pain management, and quality of life is reduced. Physicians and nursing professionals must learn to assess and treat pediatric pain appropriately while caring for hospitalized children. This course describes the past and future status of pain management in children, pharmacological and non-pharmacological management options, and the complexities of managing pain in special populations.

This course is intended to provide nurses with knowledge on interventions for pediatric trauma, including injuries to the head, chest, abdominal cavity, and extremities. Interventions for asphyxiation, drowning, burns, and electrical shock will also be presented. This course is the second part of the Managing Pediatric Trauma series. The first course in this series is Managing Pediatric Trauma: Assessment.

This course is intended to provide nurses with knowledge of pediatric stages of development, mechanisms of injury, and assessment best practices including the pediatric assessment triangle as they relate to trauma.

Worldwide, postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) accounts for high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality. It is important to understand the definitions and causes of PPH, as well as the many risk factors associated with PPH and how to assess a woman’s risk. Early recognition is key to have good outcomes. Recognizing PPH, the stages of PPH, and how to measure blood loss is essential, since treatment is based upon the stages of hemorrhage. Additionally, it is important to understand nursing interventions, treatments for PPH (including medication, surgical procedures, and blood products), and teamwork and communication needs to improve perinatal outcomes.

Nurses, respiratory therapists, and emergency medical professionals who care for children must have the requisite skills and training on the unique characteristics of a pediatric patient’s respiratory system. Children have significant respiratory system differences compared to adults. These include, but are not limited to: Anatomy, physiology, signs and symptoms of respiratory distress, and respiratory emergencies. In children, the leading cause of cardiopulmonary arrest occurs from etiologies within the respiratory system. Clinicians must understand these differences and be prepared to work collaboratively to quickly respond and provide safe and competent care to any child who is in respiratory distress.

Anesthesia administration has become increasingly safer, but is not without risk. Patient- and family-centered care and the desire to save costs has led to a shift in perioperative care needs from “stabilize and admit” to “stabilize and discharge.” Each patient undergoing anesthesia requires competent, professional nursing staff to assist in timely and safe medication administration, maintenance, and recovery. Knowledge of anesthetic techniques, agents, and adjuvants is vital to this competence.

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.

Do no harm: A fundamental principle of medical care, yet thousands of patients suffer harm from medical errors every day. Some reports estimate annual deaths from medical errors in the U.S. to be as high as 250,000, but a more recent study revealed that number may be highly inflated (Rodwin et al., 2020). The actual number of preventable deaths estimated by a meta-analysis was 22,165, with most occurring in people expected to have less than 3 months to live. For those who were expected to live longer than 3 months, 7,150 deaths occurred. The difference may be due to over-estimation or from initiatives to reduce errors since initial values were released. Regardless, healthcare professionals are obliged to do no harm, so continued efforts are needed to reduce medical errors.

This course is intended to educate nurses, physicians, and physician assistants on the causes and strategies for preventing medical errors.

This course will cover an overview of topics surrounding medication administration including pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, safety standards, and legal and ethical guidelines for practice. The learner will use case scenarios to gain a deeper understanding of the foundational practice.

Veterans are at risk for behavioral health conditions due to a combination of experiences and risk factors. In this course, you will learn best practices to address mental health issues common among veterans. You will also learn about screening tools, risk factors, and clinical interventions.

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. 

This course discusses how to recognize, prevent, and report abuse, neglect, and exploitation of vulnerable adults in the state of Washington.

The goal of this course is to educate direct care workers in post-acute care settings on how to identify, prevent, and report suspected or witnessed abuse, neglect, or exploitation in the state of Washington.

The increased emphasis on pain management to improve functionality and quality of life has contributed to significantly more opioid prescriptions. Their availability led to widespread misuse across the nation. This course will address regulation and misuse of opioids and evidence-based management of chronic pain.

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 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.

This course is designed to teach healthcare professionals effective pain management methods that do not rely on opioids. It encourages the use of patient-centered approaches, various therapies, technology, and self-care strategies while collaborating with the interprofessional team. Overcoming obstacles, such as stigma and unequal access to pain treatments, is emphasized to improve pain management practices.

The Health and Medicine Division’s (HMD) Healthy People 2030 and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality have highlighted the health disparities affecting LGBTQ+ populations. As evidence of health-illness patterns continues to be reported in the literature, this module presents the complex social determinants of health unique among the LGBTQ+ community. Information will be analyzed based on the six conceptual perspectives for understanding LGBTQ+ health suggested by the HMD: stigma, social constructionism, identity affirmation, life course, intersectionality, and social ecology. The goal of this course is to provide social workers, nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists, speech-language pathologists and audiologists, physical therapists, and physicians with education regarding the issues of the LGBTQ+ community within the healthcare system.

This course discusses best practices in operative vaginal delivery techniques—forceps-assisted delivery and vacuum-assisted delivery (OAVD), as well as episiotomy.

The course is case-based, so you will have an opportunity to apply the principles covered to particular patient scenarios. The cases are branched, with different outcomes based on different choices.

Use of OAVD techniques vary from organization to organization. You may, for example, work in a hospital in which forceps techniques are no longer taught to residents. Each section has been organized so that you can move through it quickly or delve into it more deeply, depending on its relevance to your clinical practice.
 

Abdominal pain is the single most common ED complaint (up to 10% of visits) and is in the top four for emergency medicine litigation. Emergency providers must be proficient in diagnosing abdominal pain to provide excellent care to patients and reduce their risk of being named in litigation. This course will address abdominal pain diagnosis and treatment in the ED for the elderly, adults, children, and young women (of childbearing potential).

The perioperative nurse plays a primary role in the anesthesia experience. Knowledge of techniques, patient assessment, and care management for the patient receiving or recovering from anesthesia positively impacts patient outcomes. This course discusses anesthetics and adjuvant medications used in the perioperative setting, anesthesia-related complications, and the nurse’s role in assisting with anesthesia management.

This course provides nursing professionals with information about the principles and practices of anesthesia care in the perioperative setting.

Perioperative providers can BEST prepare for emergencies in the operating room by knowing the responsibilities of each team member and rehearsing interventions ahead of time. When you are in the moment and your heart is racing, it’s easy to forget how to respond or even where supplies are located. Practicing your responsibilities and team interventions ahead of time will help to prepare you for the unexpected. This course provides you with an opportunity to participate in five emergency scenarios to test your knowledge. Time is of the essence when an emergency happens so you must think and act fast to save the patient!

The goal of this course is to equip nurses and STs with knowledge of the responsibilities of the team during a range of OR emergencies.