Influenza can have a significant impact on society due to restricted activities, illness, and deaths. Pregnant women, children, the elderly, and those with respiratory or chronic debilitating conditions are particularly vulnerable to serious complications of influenza. This course discusses influenza’s signs and symptoms, some simple steps you can take to prevent the spread of flu viruses, and treatment strategies.

This third 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.

It can be difficult to work with certain people due to issues such as communication breakdowns, personality clashes, or conflicting work habits. You may not like everyone you work with, but it’s important to respect everyone. By learning ways to reduce conflicts, you’ll become more respected too. In this course, you’ll learn strategies to calmly address misunderstandings before they blow up, deal with differences, communicate clearly, and listen respectfully.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of children in the United States are abused or neglected (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018). It is imperative that medical professionals have a better understanding of what they can do to address this serious issue. In this course you will learn the definitions of child abuse and neglect, how to screen and assess risk factors that predispose children to maltreatment, and how to help children and families receive the care that they need.

Cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) or strokes are the fifth leading cause of death in the United States. However, they can be treated if the patient is helped within the first four and a half hours of the event, according to the American Stroke Association. This course for healthcare providers identifies medical and lifestyle risk factors that can lead to a stroke, describes diagnostic measures used to assess stroke risk, and outlines stroke-prevention strategies and lifestyle changes. You will be equipped to educate patients on how their lifestyle can significantly impact their stroke risk and how making key changes can help them to avoid medical emergency.

Research indicates that screening and brief interventions by health-care professionals can have a significant impact on individuals with drug or alcohol difficulties. This course presents step-by-step guidelines about how to integrate screenings, how to conduct brief interventions that “meet people where they are” in their stage of change, and how to refer individuals to appropriate resources when they suffer from more severe substance issues. This training illustrates best practices using the SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment) approach outlined by SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. You will be equipped with the tools you need to successfully screen and provide brief interventions for substance use issues in your own health-care setting.

More than 21 million blood components are transfused annually in the U.S. But if blood types are mismatched, transfusions can be deadly. Three factors that commonly lead to ABO incompatibility errors have been identified as mislabeling of the blood specimen for cross-matching, misinterpretation by the blood bank, and misidentification of the patient before blood transfusion. Nurses who generally administer blood products must follow facility policy to ensure that they give the correct blood product to the correct patient.

As a working professional, you may find yourself in situations where boundaries are blurred between staff and persons who receive services from the organization. Some boundary violations can be dangerous for you and the people you work with. This course explores best practices for maintaining professional boundaries, the difference between areas that are flexible and open to good judgment versus unprofessional and unhealthy situations, and what actions should take place when you recognize that a boundary has been crossed. You will come away knowing how to make sure your working relationships remain professional.

 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 goal of this course is to provide clinicians with knowledge of risk factors for surgical site infections and evidence-based best practices prevention.

During the imaging process, it is essential for radiographers to identify challenges and errors in techniques, and understand how they affect patient outcomes during the imaging process. In order to help radiologic technologists in acute care facilities identify common pathologies in differential diagnostics, this course describes the sectional anatomy of the head, neck, chest, and abdomen. It also discusses radiation safety, imaging techniques, common pathologies resulting from radiographic imaging, and the importance of patient safety during imaging procedures.

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 the healthcare provider in developing patient-specific care plans. This course will cover different techniques for the various types of patient interviews. You will learn interviewing methods to effectively elicit the important details about a patient's reason for presenting to the clinic. The seven things you need to know about almost every complaint will be covered, as well as how to approach the difficult patient. While there are many categories of difficult patients, several studies have shown that it is the provider that must adapt in order to complete the interview. You will learn how to adapt for several specific patient types: the histrionic, obsessive, self-defeating, borderline personality, and dependent types. This course will use a blend of didactic information, case studies, and self-evaluation to facilitate your learning experience. The target audience for this course is registered nurses and advanced practice nurses.

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.

Root cause analysis (RCA) is a team approach for investigating adverse events. Rather than calling out individuals who are at fault, its purpose is to identify factors that make adverse events possible. This overview explains some of the commonly used tools for conducting RCA, and why uncovering information gives a detailed understanding of the reason the event happened in the first place and what may prevent it from happening again.

The powerful forces of nature unleashed by earthquakes and tsunamis can cause catastrophic damage. This course presents some basic facts about earthquakes and tsunamis, including why and when they occur, along with guidelines for preparedness and recommended protective actions to stay safe.

One of the hormones used by the endocrine system to finely regulate and maintain the human body is Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH). By increasing water absorption, ADH helps control the body’s fluid balance when the circulating blood volume becomes too low. However, a condition known as Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone (SIADH) develops when an excessive amount of ADH is secreted or when the body has an increased response to ADH. In this course, you will learn about SIADH, how to identify patients at risk and their clinical presentation, nursing care for those with SIADH, how to identify complications associated with treatment, and the monitoring required for prevention.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), a complex condition with a wide array of associated symptoms and disabilities, significantly impacts the lives of patients and their families. This course for nurses who care for patients who have experienced a TBI discusses assessment strategies, current treatment guidelines, and supportive care to effect positive outcomes.

Experiencing a stroke can result in a permanently devastating condition. While some risk factors are uncontrollable, certain practices can help prevent, limit, and even reverse stroke damage. This course equips providers of senior healthcare to facilitate stroke recovery by knowing the signs and symptoms of stroke, being able to perform quick assessments, and responding appropriately. Also included: strategies for stroke prevention and ways to help your patients achieve quality of life after a stroke.

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.

 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.

The goal of this course is to provide clinicians with the knowledge needed to identify patients at risk for suicide and appropriate interventions based on the patient’s level of risk. 

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.

Cardiac rehabilitation involves many facets of health and wellness. One of these facets—diabetes management—requires an interdisciplinary approach involving nurses, dieticians, and therapists. This module will review diabetes management as a core competency in cardiac rehabilitation.

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 understand the characteristics of junctional rhythms and the approach taken toward narrow complex tachycardia.

On average, people who live with serious mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance-use disorders die 25 to 35 years prematurely. This is largely due to preventable diseases, health disparities, and even the contributing factor of the stigma associated with mental illness. Behavioral health case managers are experts in helping people manage their chronic mental health conditions. By applying those skills in addressing the whole-health needs of these individuals, case managers become care managers in an integrated-systems approach to behavioral health concerns. This course for health and human services professionals offers an overview of case-to-care management, a strategy for incorporating a patient-centered approach, and ways to effectively impact the health outcomes of the people you serve.

Certain external conditions, often beyond an individual’s direct control, are referred to as the social determinants of health, and they have the potential of affecting the health of your patients. These conditions, contributing to individuals’ health inequity and inequalities at all levels, encompass where a patient lives and works; socioeconomic policies, systems, and norms; and more. This course discusses how the five pillars of the social determinants of health impact the daily delivery, accessibility, and engagement of health-improvement efforts. It also presents strategies for assessing the social determinants of health that may be affecting your patient population, how to increase awareness and interest in these determinants, and ways to engage patients, stakeholders, and other providers in addressing social determinants of health.

Workplace violence includes threats or actual use of physical force. This course presents the key steps- Prevent, Report, and Respond- that you can take to maintain a safe workplace.

A bleeding disorder—also called coagulopathy—is an impairment of the blood's ability to form clots. This course for nurses in the acute care facility explains the concepts of coagulation and hemostasis. You will learn how to identify emergency situations and will be equipped to care for those with coagulopathies such as immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC), heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), and warfarin-induced coagulopathy.

The early recognition of stroke symptoms and subsequent intervention have been identified as key factors in the outcomes of patients with completed strokes. This includes the initial assessment and stabilization of critical respiratory, circulatory, hemodynamic, and neurologic status, and obtaining crucial elements of a patient’s history. Distinguishing ischemic from hemorrhagic strokes requires diagnostic applications performed within narrow windows of opportunity, so that appropriate treatment options can be accurately selected and effectively administered. This course discusses the knowledge and skills needed to care for patients with an acute stroke, from onset through the first 24 hours.

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.

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.

Caregivers who work with older adults with dementia often report that the biggest obstacles they face are related to managing challenging behaviors. This course offers a clinically based overview of such behaviors, along with the most common effects of the pharmacological agents used to treat these behaviors. You will learn practical techniques to use in your own setting to help you determine the most effective strategies for managing the people you serve.

The goal of this course is to equip learners with knowledge of common religions beliefs and practices, and how they may impact health and healthcare decisions. 

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.

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.

Delays in developmental skills in young children can include problems with movement (motor), hearing and speaking (communication), social and emotional development, and thinking and problem-solving skills (cognitive). These difficulties, ranging from mild to severe, may extend into adulthood and can affect learning, communication, and functioning in the community. The onset of some developmental disabilities, such as Down syndrome, can be diagnosed at birth. Other disorders may become apparent only as young children miss important developmental milestones, although the typical sequence of development can have a wide range. This course explains how to identify atypical development in young children, how to recognize common developmental disabilities that require comprehensive assessments, and how to identify and describe common disabilities that may result from environmental factors. With this knowledge, you will be better equipped to meet the individual needs of the young children with whom you work.

This assessment measures overall learner competencies as aligned with the modules presented in the social determinants of health learning path. The objectives being assessed are the social factors that impact a person’s health, how providers can incorporate the social determinants of health into their patient assessments, how these determinants impact patients’ ability to adhere to their care plans, and how to improve the care-planning process by incorporating social health information.

This webinar, presenting an overview of the current opioid epidemic, discusses methods for identifying the potential risks of opioid treatment. It also presents recommended treatment strategies for patients with chronic pain, including an overview of CDC guidelines and general strategies for safer pain-management practices.

Develop a secure workplace by looking at the dynamics contributing to workplace violence. Included in the course are: active-shooter response protocols, threat assessment protocols, security measures, ways to evaluate your organization’s preparedness, techniques to de-escalate hostile behavior, and ways to address domestic violence in the workplace.

While bronchoscopy provides valuable diagnostic and therapeutic benefits, it also carries risk for complications, some potentially life-threatening. This course for nurses in the acute care facility discusses conditions for which bronchoscopy is used, its potential benefits, and its possible complications. You will also learn identify safety risks for staff, patients, and visitors, as well as describe nursing interventions before, during, and after a bronchoscopy.

Mammography, the most widely used screening tool for breast cancer, has certain limitations. Several imaging modalities are being developed and improved to overcome mammography’s shortcomings. This course discusses how imaging techniques can reduce breast cancer mortality when used for routine screening and diagnosis, as well as for staging breast cancer, planning treatments, and monitoring response to chemotherapy.

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.

In this course, you will become familiar with various models and configurations of integrated care. You will learn about the costs, benefits, and goals of integrated care systems. As there are numerous challenges to integrating care, you will become aware of some of these key challenges, and familiar with particular characteristics of well-functioning integrated care systems. Finally, you will learn a variety of ways that behavioral healthcare professionals, including you, can function effectively in an integrated care environment.

In helping people maintain their health, well-being, and independence, nurses must feel confident in their ability to make appropriate decisions. This course discusses ethical concepts that will guide you in tough situations where making the right decision is critical. Included is a discussion of ethical principles for nursing practitioners in the geriatric setting, along with how to utilize a decision-making process to resolve ethical situations and problems.

The goal of this course is to provide clinicians working in acute care settings with knowledge of the regulations for use of restraint in hospitals, types of patient harm that can result from restraint use, potential alternatives to restraint, techniques for safe restraint application, and assessment and monitoring to prevent and recognize restraint-related harm.

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.

This course discusses how to improve healthcare quality while decreasing costs within the payer environment. You will learn evidence-based practices to improve health outcomes for member populations, along with the role of medical-necessity criteria in creating a roadmap for financially responsible optimal care. Included in the discussion is the role of utilization management, common misconceptions about its purpose, key metrics every utilization manager needs to know, and the review and appeals process.

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.

In today's increasingly complex healthcare system, care coordination and case management are vital for producing optimal member outcomes, decreasing care costs, and ensuring that healthcare services are utilized effectively. This course focuses on care coordination and case management within the payer setting. You will learn about the need for these services; common challenges you may encounter; and the latest goals, philosophies, and guiding principles of these functions. Also included are seven critical steps in the care coordination and case management process, along with tangible benefits and superior outcomes that these steps produce for providers, members, and payer organizations.

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.

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.

Although gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increasing in the US, a woman with GDM can experience a healthy pregnancy if the condition is well managed. This course, for providers who work in maternal child health, discusses how pregnancy alters glucose metabolism, what risk assessment is required, and what test results indicate when a pregnant woman has crossed into GDM. You will come away equipped with the information you need to provide quality care for your patients with GDM.

This course is designed to provide greater awareness of sexual harassment in the workplace, steps to take to prevent it, and methods to deal with it if it does occur. The course will focus on federal laws, liability issues, harassment policies, employee rights, supervisor responsibilities, and investigation procedures.

The content in this course is applicable to supervisors in all settings.

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 goal of this course is to provide clinicians with knowledge of evidence-informed pain management practices.
 

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

This course discusses quality payment programs, participation, and how these programs work, along with sources of additional information. It is designed for presentation to trainers and other information-givers, and can easily be adapted for presentations to groups of beneficiaries.

Two of the most important aspects of breast cancer care are length of life and quality of life. Early detection can help lead to positive outcomes in both of these areas. Careful practices in mammography are essential for accurate pathological diagnosing, as well as for providing patient safety and comfort. This course for radiologic technologists in acute care facilities discusses specified methods of Quality Control (MQSA) for ACR accreditation, false positives, common pathologies found in radiographic mammography, tumor mapping used in nuclear medicine, and steps to ensure patient safety during mammography.

Although palliative care can be a tremendous benefit for individuals with chronic, life-limiting conditions, many qualifying individuals are not referred to such care because of a lack of understanding of the services. Another point of confusion is how palliative care and hospice care differ. This course explains each type of care, including when they are appropriate, the services offered, team-member roles, and payer sources. Thus equipped, healthcare professionals can better advocate for the most appropriate care, provide education and guidance to individuals and their families, and, when necessary, ease the transition from palliative care to hospice care.

Many individuals with behavioral health problems are unable to access behavioral healthcare. Telehealth (enhancing health care through the use of telecommunications technologies) is designed to provide everyone with access to health care, regardless of their location. In this course you will learn what telehealth is, its history, potential advantages and challenges, and the research base supporting telehealth for behavioral health services. You will be equipped with practical strategies you can apply in your own setting to use telehealth for adults with behavioral health issues.

Symptoms in a child such as fever, cough, and chills can alert you to the potential presence of a communicable disease and can aid in the detection of concerns in your work environment. Less obvious symptoms may require a more careful inspection to determine risk factors. Because children are exposed to a variety of environments, caregivers working with families must have the ability to identify healthcare concerns quickly in order to halt the spread of disease. This course, designed for staff members working with children and their family members, will help you determine if signs and symptoms depict the presence of a communicable disease, and the best way to manage the child and their environment. Included are ways to interact with a child who has a communicable disease, as well as a review of best practices in preventing the spread of common communicable diseases.

Floods, landslides, and debris flows happen in almost every state. This course provides some basic information about these potentially destructive events, including the importance of knowing the particular risks in your locality and taking recommended protective actions.

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.

This course will familiarize the learner with personal protective equipment. The different types and proper application of personal protective equipment are discussed. Choosing the correct personal protective equipment for the type of exposure is presented. This course engages the learner in discovering educational resources for commonly used chemicals and tactics for choosing personal protective equipment used in situations where exposure risks are evolving. 

The goal of this course is to provide clinicians in hospitals with knowledge of interventions to reduce microbial resistance and decrease the spread of infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms.

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.

Aneurysms are known as silent killers. Without early detection and prompt intervention, their mortality rate can reach as high as 90 to 100 percent. A number of commonly found risk factors and comorbidities can increase the risk of developing an aneurysm. To help you achieve quality outcomes for your patients, this course discusses the symptoms of a potential aneurysm, how to identify aneurysm types and their physical location, and common techniques used in managing the patient with an aneurysm.

Be equipped with the tools and knowledge you need to effectively prevent and/or report serious incidents in behavioral health settings. Included in this course are interactive exercises, helpful vignettes, and informative guidelines.

Previous courses covering the Healthy People 2020 campaign have explored how social determinants of health impact health outcomes and healthcare delivery. Also included were best practices for providers addressing each determinant. This course offers scenarios representing the culmination of the knowledge and skills this series has presented regarding critical components of the five major pillars of the social determinants of health. These scenarios, providing glimpses of real-world experience, will challenge you to use your critical thinking, and the knowledge and skills you have gained in the other courses in this series.

Renal disease—failure of the kidneys to perform their normal function—has three categories: acute renal failure (ARF), chronic kidney disease (CKD), and end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The patient’s history, physical examination, test results, and signs and symptoms will allow you to differentiate acute from chronic kidney disease. To ensure the best outcome, learn the signs and symptoms of renal disease, how to assess it quickly, and the appropriate actions to take. In presenting that information, this course discusses the significant role you play as a healthcare provider in renal-disease education and prevention.

This course will guide you through understanding best practices in incident report writing. It will assist you in understanding how those practices help protect the health and safety of the person you support, while at the same time protecting you. In this course, you will identify factors that affect the quality of incident reports and investigate elements that affect memory and recall. You will focus on reducing factors that negatively impact the completeness and accuracy of incident reports. Demonstrating your understanding of the guidelines taught in this course will ensure your documentation adheres to legal, ethical, and programmatic standards. While completing this course, you will review incident report notes and apply what you have learned to identify unclear, subjective, and ungrammatical elements within the notes. This course is intended for direct support professionals

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.

This course will help you determine the steps you need to take to  implement an advance care planning program, and how resources from the Five Wishes program can help. You will learn how to build support, determine goals and measures, and identify processes  to ensure your program is making a difference for your recipients and your healthcare organization. This course will help you determine the steps you need to take to build and implement an effective advance care planning program, and how resources from the Five Wishes 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. This course is Part 3 of a 3-part series on advance care planning designed to build off one another. 

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 goal of this course is to provide clinicians with knowledge of the components techniques for assessing pain.

The more familiar you are with the essentials of ethical care, informed consent, and advance directives, the better equipped you will be to provide higher quality patient care in medical and behavioral healthcare settings. This course covers the fundamentals of the Client Bill of Rights, the six principles of ethical care, the process for obtaining informed consent, and how to interpret behavioral health advance directives. Through interactive exercises and vignettes, you will have the opportunity to apply these concepts so you can provide your clients with a higher standard of care.

Rather than being a stand-alone disease, diabetes (particularly Type II diabetes) is a metabolic dysfunction at the cellular level. This metabolic dysfunction contributes to many comorbidities being associated with diabetes. Taking a purely pharmaceutical approach—looking only at blood glucose or A1C as an endpoint—fails to identify and address the potential underlying causes of diabetes and other comorbidities. To help you facilitate the best outcomes for your patients, this course discusses the correlation between diabetes and comorbidities, the underlying pathological processes, and the impact of glucose control. You will come away with an understanding of the common comorbidities associated with diabetes and of the proper management of these conditions.

Hepatic failure is one of the leading causes of death in this country. According to the American Liver Foundation (ALF), one in 10 Americans—approximately 30 million people—has some form of hepatic failure, with 16,000 such patients currently on the transplant list waiting for a new liver. So you can better manage and care for this patient population, this course presents the causes, symptoms, risk factors, complications, treatment strategies, and characteristics of hepatic failure.

Diabetes, the leading cause of adult blindness, non-traumatic amputation, renal failure, and cardiovascular disease, affects 29 million people in the U.S., putting a tremendous strain on healthcare costs. The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) partnered with numerous health organizations to produce Guiding Principles for the Care of People with or at Risk for Diabetes. The publication includes 10 principles developed to guide healthcare providers in delivering quality care to adults who have or are at risk for diabetes. This introductory course, appropriate for nurses, dieticians, rehab professionals, nurses’ aides, and anyone interested in learning more, presents three of the publication’s guidelines (Principles 7–10) related to current evidence-based diabetes management and prevention.

This entry-level course in pain assessment and management is for direct-care staff and activity professionals in long-term care, hospice, and home-health settings. It covers types and classifications of pain, pain assessment tools to use with both verbal and nonverbal individuals, the basics of pain assessment, some pain management strategies, and federal regulations that address quality of life and quality of care.

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.

Physical environment has a direct impact on your patients’ health and wellness. This course covers four components of neighborhoods and the built environment: crime and violence, quality of housing, environmental conditions, and access to healthy foods. Learn how to leverage this knowledge to improve treatment planning for your patients.

To manage the threat posed by multi-drug-resistant organisms (MDROs), all healthcare workers and individuals must work together. Along with providing a comprehensive look at new and ever-changing MDROs, this course covers disease trends associated with MDROs, the national approach to combat MDROs, leading practices and clinical interventions, and the psychosocial effects of treatment. You will learn prevention measures and methods to control the spread of MDROs in our communities and throughout health care.

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.

 Wrong-site surgery is one of the most devastating sentinel events experienced by patients and practitioners. As defined by The Joint Commission, wrong-site surgery involves the wrong side or region of the body, the wrong procedure (a procedure other than the one intended), or the wrong patient. Perioperative healthcare providers must be knowledgeable about the latest risk-prevention strategies, protocols and tools to ensure the safety of surgical patients.

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.

Diabetes is not an uncommon condition in today’s healthcare system. 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 also empower the patient to take a bigger role in their own 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 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 clinicians with knowledge of risk factors and implications of central line-associated bloodstream infections.

Diabetes, the leading cause of adult blindness, non-traumatic amputation, renal failure, and cardiovascular disease, affects 29 million people in the US, putting a tremendous strain on healthcare costs. The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) partnered with numerous health organizations to produce Guiding Principles for the Care of People with or at Risk for Diabetes. The publication includes 10 principles developed to guide healthcare providers in delivering quality care to adults who have or are at risk for diabetes. This introductory course, appropriate for nurses, dieticians, rehab professionals, nurses’ aides, and anyone interested in learning more, presents three of the publication’s guidelines (Principles 4–6) related to current evidence-based diabetes management and prevention.

This course is the fourth in a five-part series on the social determinants of health as defined by the Healthy People 2020 initiative. One of the pillars of the social determinants of health is health services. This course provides an in-depth and interactive analysis of how individuals' access to healthcare and primary care, along with their health literacy, affects their health and wellbeing. You will learn how to leverage this knowledge to improve your patients' health outcomes.

This course is designed for individuals working with people who may have tuberculosis (TB). Since TB can be contracted through the air, quick identification is imperative to prevent its spread. TB's symptoms- including fever, loss of appetite, chills, night sweats, and a persistent cough- make seeking medical treatment necessary in order to determine if an individual has active TB. Some symptoms are less obvious, so additional follow up with a healthcare team can also be required. This course includes a review of TB's significance, its associated health factors, and the populations at greatest risk. The material will enable you to identify TB's symptoms and understand disease management, infection-control practices, and ways to apply your new knowledge in your own work environment.

Not only do patients consider anesthesia to be a major risk of surgery, but they also expect perioperative team members to be their advocates by caring for their pre- and intraop needs. This continuing-education module discusses medications and anesthetics used in clinical settings, anesthesia-related problems—such as aspiration, injection of bolus anesthetic agents, and malignant hyperthermia—and the nurse‘s role in dealing with these problems. You will come away better equipped to provide safe and effective care for surgical patients.

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.

In these videos, the topic of infection control is discussed within the CMS Conditions of Participation regulations. Specifically, this program will discuss the details and final changes to the infection control standards that went into effect November 2019 and how the CMS Infection Control Worksheet is used to assess compliance. Compliance includes an antibiotic stewardship program (ASP), infection control training and protocol, ISMP IV guidelines, safe injection practices, CDC vaccine storage and handling. Participants will be given examples of infection control programs, tracer tools, and resources to support compliance. This course will also discuss how Environmental Services play an important role in complying with the standards. The CMS infection worksheet will be covered in detail.  Although the worksheet is not being used per se at Critical Access Hospitals (CAH), the standards are similar and the worksheet provides an excellent self-assessment tool.

Each year, substance use is linked to over 11 million deaths worldwide (Ritchie & Roser, 2019). Supporting individuals’ long-term recovery from substance use can help save lives. Recovery is a lifelong process that aims to keep an individual substance-free while improving their overall quality of life. Wellness strategies enhance recovery outcomes by focusing on optimal health across all dimensions of an individual’s life.

The goal of this course is to provide clinicians with knowledge needed to perform safe and effective handoff communication. 

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.

Quality Improvement (QI) can be implemented within almost any healthcare setting and can prove highly beneficial for achieving improved delivery of service outcomes. For quality improvement to be effective, it is crucial that everyone at your agency or clinic be informed of any QI projects and how their roles and responsibilities might impact these projects. The better you understand the QI process, the more proficient you will be as an active participant in improving the quality of services your agency or clinic provides. Using several quality improvement models, as well as detailed and specific examples that demonstrate these models in action, this course offers an overview of quality improvement, along with relevant aspects of how quality improvement impacts not only your job, but also your clinic or agency’s performance. You will be armed with the knowledge you need to apply these concepts in your own setting.

The goal of this course is to provide the clinician with up-to-date best practices for identifying and treating patients who have peripheral artery disease (PAD). The module covers symptoms, complications, risk factors, and modifications of PAD, along with the topics of diagnostic tests, assessment, and treatment strategies.

Due to the strong correlation between income and health, this course discusses economic stability, which is defined as the ability to access such vital resources as food, adequate housing, and necessary healthcare. Knowledge of your patients’ economic stability can inform your efforts to create successful care plans for them.

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.

Proficiency in the use of a validated stroke scale, such as the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), is important for any member of the healthcare team caring for patients with acute stroke. This stroke assessment scale efficiently assesses stroke severity, offering objective information about prognosis and outcomes along with directing early treatment. With proper training in the use of the NIHSS, including serial monitoring, specifically for those at risk for worsening neurologic status, little variance should exist in results among clinicians. Education is essential to improving reliability and increasing effective communication regarding treatment of stroke patient

 This course is appropriate for clinicians with a basic or intermediate knowledge of working with individuals with late-life depression. It is intended to help human service professionals identify the most common symptoms of a depressive disorder and familiarize them with the major types of effective clinical and psychosocial treatments available for older adults. Employing the interactive exercises and case vignettes in this course will teach you the skills you need to recognize depressive disorders among the older adults with whom you work, and provide them with the best information, support, and resources for treatment. DSM™ and DSM-5™ are registered trademarks of the American Psychiatric Association. The American Psychiatric Association is not affiliated with nor endorses this course.

Discharge planning is not only important to ensure compliance with the CMS standards but also for reimbursement. This webinar will discuss what your hospital must do to be in compliance with the revised discharge planning standards. While every hospital that accepts Medicare and Medicaid must be in compliance with the CMS discharge planning guidelines, the standards must be followed for all patients and not just Medicare or Medicaid. It will also review the discharge planning worksheet which is a valuable tool to understand how to comply.  

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.

The goal of this course is to provide healthcare employees with knowledge of fall risks and universal and targeted preventive strategies.

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.

Critical situations in the emergency department (ED) often result in a rapid flow of information between providers and patients. In the midst of the volume and urgency of such exchanges, ED providers must be especially careful to safeguard patient information. This course covers the basics of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and 42 CFR Part 2. As an overview of each law is discussed, you will learn about the specific information you can and cannot share, how to share it appropriately, and what the information you may not be able to access. Included are practical approaches for acquiring the information you need in a timely and efficient manner.

NOTE: The content in this course is based on information from HIPAA (US Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2014) and 42 CFR Part 2 (United States Government Publishing Office [USGPO], 2015). If you wish to view the law in its entirety, please see the References section at the end of the course. This course is intended for all emergency department personnel and providers. Please note that this course focuses on federal law. However, every state has its own privacy and confidentiality laws, and it is your responsibility to know your state's laws and regulations. Furthermore, this course is not intended as legal advice for any individual provider or situation. If you need more comprehensive information, please review the resources listed at the end of the course and consult with your organization's legal and compliance team.

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.

To be equipped for any type of emergency, your healthcare organization must include a plan for addressing a possible pandemic influenza event. In this course on the three stages of preparation, response, and recovery, you will learn about pandemic influenza, the basic elements of creating a plan to address it, and the steps needed to implement such a plan when responding to a pandemic.

Sexual harassment makes it hard for workers to feel comfortable and perform their jobs. It also creates problems for employers. This course discusses what sexual harassment is, how to recognize it in the workplace, how it affects individuals and organizations, and what actions to take in response to it. This information will help employees in any industry to be better equipped when dealing with sexual harassment.