Instructor-led Activities - Nursing

Nursing CE

The following CE activities are designed to be facilitated on site by an instructor provided by Smiths Medical Clinical Education. Please contact Smiths Medical Clinical Services to discuss scheduling these activities.

Capnography: Pieces of the Puzzle

This one contact hour instructor-led course is designed to provide information on Capnography, an integral tool to assist the clinician with in-depth patient assessment. Early intervention is critical to avert respiratory depression and improve the quality of care and ultimately patient outcomes. Capnography instantaneously monitors breath to breath carbon dioxide concentration and provides a picture of metabolic, circulatory, and ventilatory status. This program will explore how capnography can assist the clinician in identifying undiagnosed clinical conditions that predispose patients to respiratory complications along with applications for transport and resuscitation guidelines. Optimal respiratory care doesn't have to be a puzzle any longer!

Successful completion of this activity awards 1 contact hour of Continuing Nursing Education credit or 1 contact hour of Respiratory CRCE credit.

eVAPorate: Solutions for Positive Patient Outcomes

This one contact hour instructor-led course is designed to provide an overview on ventilator associated pneumonia, the second most common infection occurring in patients requiring mechanical ventilation for longer than 48 hours and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Because of this, there is great interest in accurately diagnosing, treating and preventing complications. This program will provide the learner with a general overview of VAP and a better understanding of the preventative principles associated with VAP.

Hypothermia: The Chilling Facts

This one contact hour instructor-led course will define hypothermia; discuss risk factors, mechanisms of heat transfer, and clinical as well as financial consequences. Participants will explore the need for treatment modalities to ensure normothermia for the perioperative patient leading to better outcomes. Hypothermia, one of the most common preventable complications experienced by surgical patients, has significant clinical implications. Temperature management of this patient population has become an area of increasing focus.

Nix the Six: Raise the Bar on Medication Delivery

This one contact hour instructor-led course is designed to provide an overview of the “Rule of 6” a weight-based method of preparing medication infusions versus the standardized concentration method where the concentrations of infusions are pre-determined. Participants will discuss strategies to improve the safety of using high alert medications by standardizing and limiting the number of drug concentrations available in the organization as it relates to implementing standardized concentrations.

Reducing Medication Errors Using a Systems Approach and Smart Technology

This one contact hour instructor-led course is designed to provide participants with strategies to comply with the Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals to reduce medication errors using a systems-based approach and smart technology. Medication errors are a result of multiple factors, not simply one person's misstep. Defects in systems design make errors possible. Creating a culture of safety in which patient safety is a priority requires a "systems" approach.

Fundamentals of Infusion Therapy

This two contact hour instructor-led course is designed to facilitate a basic understanding of infusion therapy. The goal is to present the research and evidence that supports best practice for infusion therapy and improves patient outcomes. This program will provide participants with the knowledge needed to select the vascular access device that reflects the lowest risk for complications and supports the safest course of prescribed therapy. 

Peripheral Infusion Therapy Practicum

This one contact hour practicum is designed to demonstrate the practical application of venipuncture skills. The goal is to apply the research and evidence that supports best practice for infusion therapy and improves patient outcomes. This program will provide participants with the opportunity to practice venipuncture techniques on an anatomical model. This course is offered in conjunction with other didactic infusion therapy programs.

Peripheral Infusion Therapy: Reducing Complications and Improving Outcomes

This one contact hour instructor-led course is designed to provide an overview of the complications of peripheral infusion therapy. Successfully gaining and maintaining peripheral vascular access can be a challenge in light of the risks that exist. When cannulating peripheral veins, patients are at risk for complications and infusions commonly fail. In order to prevent or reduce vascular complications and improve outcomes, it is important for clinicians to understand the risks of peripheral infusion therapy. Participants will discuss evidence based strategies to improve outcomes for patients receiving peripheral infusion therapy.

Prevention and Management of Neonatal Infusion Complications

This one contact hour instructor-led course is designed to provide an overview of vascular access device options for the neonate focusing on identification, prevention, and intervention measures for complications of infusion therapy. This course will describe potential infusion complications in the neonatal patient and discuss strategies aimed at decreasing the risk of these complications.

When Veins Leak: Preventing and Managing Extravasation

This one contact hour instructor-led course explores the inadvertent administration of a medication or solution into the surrounding tissue instead of the intended vascular pathway is a risk critical care nurses’ face on a regular basis when caring for high acuity patients on multiple complex drug therapies. This complication of infusion therapy is defined as either infiltration or extravasation based on the vesicant properties of the medication or solution. The pathophysiology and current theories on the mechanism of injury will be discussed.

Pediatric Infusion Therapy: Preventing Complications and Improving Outcomes

This 2 hour instructor-led course is designed to facilitate a basic understanding of pediatric infusion therapy with a focus on short peripheral therapy. The current standards, guidelines, and research will be presented followed by a discussion of the factors involved in pediatric vascular access device selection. Tips for successfully gaining and maintaining pediatric vascular access will be described. Participants will discuss evidence based strategies to improve outcomes for patients receiving pediatric peripheral infusion therapy.

Needlestick Safety Compliance: Is it a Requirement or an Option?

This one contact hour instructor-led course is designed to provide participants with the information needed to comply with the Federal Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act (H.R. 5178) and the 2001 Revised Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Bloodborne Pathogen (BBP) Standard (29 CFR 1910.1030). This program focuses on OSHA enforcement, requirements, and exceptions for compliance along with examining market trends.

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Accreditation
Smiths Medical Clinical Education Provider Unit is approved for providing continuing nursing education by the California Board of Nursing, provider number CEP 15005.

Approval as a provider refers only to this continuing education activity and does not imply California Board of Registered Nursing endorsement of any commercial products.

Commercial Support
These nursing continuing education activities are supported by Smiths Medical North America.