|
|
|
|
|
|
Continuing Education Resources on the Internet
By Mary Raymer, RN MA CNAA
|
|
The Internet provides a wide variety of choices for nurses seeking continuing education sources. Ranging from simple, short journal articles to detailed courses, the Internet offers them all. As with other on-line information, the nurse needs to be familiar with the vendor and the references used in the program to assure she or he is receiving quality education. Some of the sites charge fees, some require registration but no fees, and some require membership in the organization sponsoring the site. The following are examples of some of the Internet sites available for nursing education. This is a very samll sampling. As you will discover, when you start exploring one site it usually leads you on to others.
Many of these websites also provide links to other health-related sites including government and organization sites. The information available can be overwhelming. It is sometimes helpful to concentrate search efforts on a specific topic and complete it before exploring additional sites. As you become more familiar with the various sites you will identify those that best meet your needs.
|
|
|
|
This website is sponsored by Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins and offers access to approximately 35 nursing journals, all with abstracts and most with full text articles. There is a marketplace for nursing attire and products, a link to a BSN virtual university, and links to multiple nursing associations including NOVA. The continuing education approach provides journal articles, interactive programs and advanced practice sections. The day I visited the site, there were 269 articles from a wide variety of journals. The fees ranged from $13 to $20 to participate in the CE activity. The interactive program has three approaches which are Nursing Grand Rounds, a CE course on publishing and an in-depth review of an article. All require searching the literature for discussion of the issues. The advanced practice section includes two approaches with article based CE and an interactive CE program, via a link to Kansas Continuous Learning Project, which is a consortium of the universities in Kansas. The fees vary depending on the event.
|
|
|
|
This site is sponsored by Medscape and provides focused sections for a variety of healthcare professionals, including nurses. There are currently over 30 programs available on Medscape Nursing which offer free ANCC-accredited continuing education hours for RNs and nurse practitioners. Most activities offer CME credit as well. There are programs on cardiology, oncology, dermatology, HIV/AIDS, mental health, women's health, and more. The site also provides a CEU manager, which will print a composite of all completed programs.
|
|
|
|
This is the site of American Nurses Credentialing Center. If offers general and specialized programs. Some are free, while others have varied prices depending on membership in the organization.
|
|
|
|
This website lists topics by clinical condition or area of practice.
|
|
|
|
This site provides a link to CEU programs, the State Boards of Nursing and a variety of other nursing sites.
|
|
|
|
This site provides a directory of search engines for nursing and healthcare sites. It also provides CEU, nursing organization and journal links.
|
|
http://www.va.gov/nursing
This is the Department of Veterans Affairs Nursing web page, and it provides links to nursing education sites.
|
|
|
|
|
