HCAHPS Nursing CEU Courses

Accreditation standards mandate the evaluation of patients’ understanding of the teaching they receive during encounters with healthcare providers. More importantly, knowing whether your patient truly understands and can act on what you have taught them is key to their successful self-management of health-related conditions. This course provides the definition of teach-back and guidance for incorporating this educational method into your daily care of patients and their families.

Non-anesthesia professionals are becoming increasingly involved in the administration of moderate sedation. This requires specific competencies consistent with state and federal regulations, organizational policies, and the practitioner’s scope of practice, education, and training.

Nurses are taught from the beginning of their careers to anticipate and prepare for anything that comes their way, including adverse drug events (ADEs). These common events cause thousands of injuries and deaths each year in the U.S. Nurses play a significant role in recognizing, documenting, and preventing these events.

Annually, about 795,000 people in the U.S. are affected by stroke, which is the fifth leading cause of mortality and long-term disability (CDC, 2022a). Additionally, ischemic strokes account for about 87% of all strokes (CDC, 2022a). Ischemic strokes are also a high-risk complication of cardiac catheterization. Thus, healthcare professionals (HCPs) should know the steps needed to manage patients undergoing cardiac catheterization, be able to identify early signs and symptoms of ischemic stroke, and know of management options for acute ischemic stroke.

In 2020, suicide was the 12th leading cause of death in the U.S. (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2022). Inpatient medical units are not designed to manage patients who are at risk for suicide. Further, healthcare professionals working in acute care settings often lack the specialized training to appropriately intervene with patients in serious psychological distress. Patients who die by suicide in hospital settings often have no previously documented psychiatric history. 

Most nurse leaders begin their formal leadership path by training for a charge nurse role. Today’s healthcare restructuring has had a significant impact on charge nurse duties, resulting in a charge nurse role that now requires many more leadership qualities (Evans, 2019). Charge nurses act as the bridge between staff nurses and administrators while simultaneously developing their supervisory skills to take on future management positions.

Conflict is a part of life that especially exists in high-stress work environments such as healthcare organizations. Conflict should be an expectation in a dynamic organizational environment that, when handled correctly, can be managed to achieve beneficial outcomes. Constructive conflict can be a motivator for change and growth, a medium for airing problems, and a dynamic force to prevent stagnation. Conflict resolution is considered a necessary element in a healthy work environment and requires good communication and leadership skills.

Effectively communicating with patients and families is the foundation for a therapeutic, safe, and positive patient experience. The patient‘s experience of care is greatly influenced by what is communicated and what the patient and family observe. Communication is also a vital component of obtaining an accurate history and physical assessment, providing informed, comprehensive care, and educating patients and families to achieve optimal outcomes. When healthcare professionals recognize the factors that influence communication and consistently apply effective communication techniques, patient satisfaction, safety, and outcomes improve.