Taking courses which afford ongoing advancement opportunities, can allow professionals in the medical field to further their careers. Educationportal.com provides an overview of Licensed practical nurses Continuing Education, which considers the steps required for healthcare professionals who wish to continue their education.
Essentially, continuing education is for LPNs who have finished relevant courses and obtained a nursing license. Continuing education assists these LPNs to keep their experience and expertise at a level where they gain a clear understanding within their field as well as being a prerequisite for renewing licenses.
Individuals in the nursing field may make use of this as an opportunity to advance their career or to step into a specialized field in nursing at a high level professionally. As an LPN, some may wish to follow the career path of a nursing practitioner or registered nurse practitioner (NP/RN). These would entail furthering education, as well as additional licensing.
In order to take the first leap toward career advancement, the individual would need to finish an ADN – associate nursing degree. Certain LPNs could very well already have earned this criteria when landing their LPN license. Since LPN continuing education status is viable for achievement even without having completed the ADN, it is important as a next step to those individuals who must still acquire further education. Such a program needs another year of studying and concentration will fall on the following courses:
- human development
- family health
- advanced anatomy
- professional ethics
- a bachelors of science in nursing
Certain colleges have what is known as a BSN for LPN’s as a degree option to individuals who already have achieved an associate nursing degree. The completion of this program facilitated the continuing education process to include attempting to fulfill the RN criteria and doing the added required licensing. Common courses in these programs include:
- health assessment
- nursing management
- adult- focused health issues
- clinical practice
- licensing
LPNs desiring to transition to the role of an RN have to take the next step by writing and passing the RN examination of the council for national licensing NCLEX RN with a more advanced testing option being the NCLEX which the LPN had already finished (PN). Earning a pass mark in this exam facilitated the LPN to RN role and take a hike in pay as well as taking steps toward furthering career development.
LPN Continuing Education Online
Working in the field of Health care and being an area that evolves all the time, nurses are required to handle the newest research, trends for health practitioners as well as technological advancements so as to deliver the best service to the patient. For purposes of RN and LPN continuing education, CEU4U.com offers premiere provider-ship for the accreditation of online virtual continuing education and offers courses which cover professions such as Social work, dieticians, psychology and nursing. The study module material is available online.
CEU4U.com is an accredited ANCC service provider for the continuance of education as a nurse, and has both California and Florida’s Boards of Registered Nursing approval. It is a CE Broker and affiliated to CEC BEMS, is also BONET approved and has certification (CDR) with the ADA, offering education in the continuing study field to professional individuals across fifty states. As an LPN continuing education provider to consider, this service is highly affordable, simple to utilize and can be accessed from places providing virtual online internet services. The student can make a copy of their certificate of course completion straight after passing the test.
According to the source, Medismart online information resources, the following CEU4U options for nursing and LPN continuing education are available:
- In nursing as a CCMC RN, LPN/VN or APN
- Nursing Anesthetists in the form of CRNA/CE Courses
- Nephrology Dialysis Techs for RN and LPN’s
- Psychology BS, MS and PhD’s as well as ABPP
- Social Workers Specialty Certification: MA, BA and Ph.D
- Medical Workers Assistants: for completing annual CE criteria
- Grief and Counseling Specialty Certification, BA, MA and Ph.D
Medismart also lists the JER (OCC) Online Course Catalog’s over a thousand highly affordable, courses and certificates which are non credit within a proprietary catalog. The service is a large virtual commence developer of online courses for continuing education in the market. LPN continuing education courses differ in how long they may be from a single session seminar to a slightly longer unit for testing. JER course standards are measured within contact hours, with sixty minute equating approximately 1 contact hour. Usually, 10 contact hoers are required in order to fulfill a CEU whilst a seminar can be equaled to on or two contact hours and longer courses being worth more with testing:
- Healthcare, and Nursing (Spanish)
- Training in the Dental profession
- Training as a Pharmaceutical technician
- Career training in Phlebotomy
- Training in public safety and health
In addition, the ACEC continuing accredited education curriculum listed on Medismart, offers education specialties that work across the spectrum of health care, as a result, tracking an LPN continuing education course which offers a very particular area in career expertise will be simple. The ANA (American Nurses Association) offers the following course derivatives:
- Visits in Adolescent Prevention
- Is progress being made against Autism?
- The method of attacking Myocardial Infarction to the anterior wall in time
- Fundamental genetics and genomics
- The care of acute wounding
- How to ease Alzheimer’s Disease patients’ anguish
- How to improve the care of a stroke patient
- Psychiatric nursing reviews in mental health
- Violence in the workplace
An LPN continuing education nursing curriculum can be undertaken at the ANA, among other organizations. CEUs may be available in addition, from a local state nursing board or the Department of Health in the USA as well as non for profit bodies. Certain organizations also offer free continuing education courses to members, such as the ANA, however these should be checked for proper accreditation by the ANCC or Credentialing Center of American Nurses before enrollment. This Center for credentialing is a global leader in nursing continuing education accreditation whose programs will add points to a nursing individual’s licensing goal.
Additional research areas where one can obtain information on free LPN and RN continuing education courses include:
- The course on Bioterrorism – Serves a public offering in assistance of the wars against terrorism and is approved with a 1,2 credit in CEU Nursing.
- Cultural advantage – Consists of three free virtual CE courses which are accredited in contact hrs in fifteen states including Kansas.
- The Journal of Risk Management in nursing – offers 14,5 contact hrs which, in education take the form of free services for both federal and military health care providers.
- Medical Ed – Is a complimentary Nursing CEU via Skype and virtually.
- Nursing Medscape CE Center – Serves clients with a free selection of newly updated LPN continuing education and other courses.
- Meniscus – is a free nursing in Oncology offering.
- MMWR – offers free ongoing education courses from CDC.
- Nellcor PuritanBennett – brings a fine selection of accredited virtual education free courses to RN’s and respiratory therapists.
- Power Pak – has accredited online free nursing courses for CE’s.
- MediSmart recommends QUE – Quantum Education Units, which are approved CEU providers for counselors and nurses and provide excellent sources of very affordable credits in continuing education accreditation.
State By State Continuing Education Requirements
Nurse.com, houses Nursing Spectrum; and NurseWeek, is a leading source of local and national nursing news, jobs, nurse continuing education and a thriving nurse community. Nurse.com lists nursing continuing education requirements by state. The following is a sample of the complete list which is available on the website for RN and LPN continuing education which lists state LPN requirements:
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Further resources for LPN continuing education include Nursing.advancemweb.com offers ADVANCE for Nurses, which provides concise, practical information on clinical, management, professional and career development issues for nurses practicing in all areas of the profession. ADVANCE for Nurses serves five regions that cover all 50 states, and online with regional websites serving nurses across the country. The service is delivered via ADVANCE’s Learning Scope Online.
Merion Matters, the company behind ADVANCE focuses on bettering the careers of our healthcare community as a magazine publisher now having diversified their interests to highlight a commitment to serving the informational and career and LPN continuing education needs of nursing and allied healthcare professionals. Both print and web subscribers can participate in these CE offerings and search through a large listing of job opportunities as well as view a calendar of upcoming continuing education opportunities. To trace local and regional ADVANCE contact representatives, the website offers links to the following areas:
- Northeast
- Mid-Atlantic & Lower Great Lakes
- South
- Midwest
- West
The below outline a sample of Learning Scope Online Course Listing Options for RN and LPN continuing education with pricing and accreditation details, all costs are $8 and they cover LPN and RN accreditation:
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LPN continuing education information from ADVANCE further includes information regarding:
- disease measurement;
- drug therapy;
- Florida required courses;
- nursing trends; and
- webinars
For additional information, a web-based search generates extensive information, ensure that courses claiming to be free have the proper accreditation and check state requirements before enrolling.