Correctional Health Nursing CEU Courses

Cigarette smoking has declined, but tobacco alternatives like electronic cigarettes have gained popularity among adolescents. The use of tobacco in any form has severe health implications during the adolescent development because they are more susceptible to addiction, making them prone to becoming lifelong users of tobacco. Although healthcare providers are uniquely positioned to ask about tobacco use and provide evidence-based treatments, it is not consistently performed at each visit. This course will review how adolescents are more susceptible to the marketing of tobacco products, and the health consequences of nicotine addiction, and will provide techniques for encouraging a tobacco-free lifestyle.

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.

• Recall the physiological effects of methamphetamine on the body.
• Indicate treatment strategies for methamphetamine abuse and addiction.

Whenever a crime occurs, evidence can be transferred among the perpetrator, victim, and the crime scene. Law enforcement personnel collect and preserve crime scene evidence. Healthcare professionals can simultaneously assist with a crime investigation and provide good healthcare to patients by collecting and preserving evidence from the patient’s body. It is imperative to understand that the collection and preservation of evidence from a patient should never compromise the patient’s safety, autonomy, or legal rights. This course provides an overview of interviewing, collecting, and preserving forensic evidence, toxicology, and documentation.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have lasting negative effects on adult health, in the form of risk-taking behaviors, and chronic disease. More than half of the U.S. population has experienced at least one adverse childhood event and 14.3% have experienced four or more. Prolonged exposure to toxic stress can triple the risk for ischemic heart disease and even shorten life expectancy by 20 years, but most healthcare professionals do not know how to screen for these risk factors. Healthcare professionals have a unique opportunity to address these risk factors with screening, acknowledgement, and referrals for treatment. This continuing education program reviews the research and science of how childhood trauma affects adult health and wellness, explains how to screen for risk factors, and describes how to promote healing and resilience with trauma-informed care. 

Education is a key component of healthcare for which we could all use more time. In the midst of competing demands for planning care, implementing clinical interventions, and documentation, healthcare professionals find themselves trying to carve out quality time for patient education. With the current opioid epidemic, what is critical information professionals need to know to assess the nature of patient’s and client’s opioid use, provide education and/or counseling for opioid use, and refer persons to applicable resources for substance misuse or abuse.

The latest statistics regarding the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. illustrate there has been a decrease in the number of new HIV diagnoses from 2005 to 2014 of 19%.1 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate 1.2 million people are living with HIV infection, and many do not know it. The good news is that with the use of antiretroviral therapies, the progression of HIV infection to AIDS has been slowed, and AIDS deaths have been reduced. However, the bad news is that patients experience numerous difficulties taking these therapies, and adherence to treatment regimens can be challenging for patients. Healthcare providers can help design individualized plans of care to improve adherence. This activity will address barriers to adherence and negative consequences of nonadherence to drug therapy.

While generally considered a social phenomenon, cult membership has very real consequences for overall health. This course serves to familiarize nursing professionals with health issues related to cult involvement. It first provides a basic definition of cults and explains how cult leaders exert influence over their followers, then describes signs of possible cult membership so that nurses can recognize these signs in their patients. Harmful effects of cults such as abuse of group members are discussed and specific interventions to help those who health has been negatively affected are identified. Potential threats to community health from cultic beliefs and practices are also reviewed. Finally, through reading a clinical vignette, the learner can appreciate the complexity of a real case scenario in which intensely held personal beliefs clash with standard healthcare practices.

The number of individuals in state and federal prisons is 1.5 million, making the U.S. the world leader of incarcerated citizens. The prevalence of infectious diseases in the correctional setting is 4 to 10 times greater than that of the general U.S. population. Correctional populations also experience greater risk of communicable diseases, such as HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C, and sexually transmitted diseases. With more than 600,000 people released each year from state and federal prisons, correctional healthcare providers have a window of opportunity to identify and treat communicable diseases, directly affecting the health of people in surrounding communities.