Top 5 Continuing Education Resources for Nurses

Continuing your education might be an option for some professions. As nurses, it’s required to stay current with everchanging practices, treatments and technologies. Continuing Education (CE) credits are generally required by the state or your specific employer. But don’t think of it as a requirement. Continuing education in nursing will give you opportunities to expand your knowledge in other areas including personal and professional growth as well as providing better care to your patients.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the projected increase in employment rate for a registered nurse between 2019 and 2029 is 7 percent, which is faster than the average growth rate of 4 percent. Because of the high demand of nurses and how competitive the job market is, it’s important to keep up with ongoing educational requirements. 

But staying up to date with the latest developments, skills, and new technologies can be overwhelming, especially with the current pandemic we are facing. To help you keep your certifications current, here are five online resources to continue your nursing education:

1. American Nurses Association

The American Nurses Association (ANA) provides certification test preps that include workshops, webinars and on-demand courses that get you prepared for the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) specialty and Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) certification. Once you get done with these test preparations, you can apply for many certifications they offer. This will give you the chance to improve your nursing career.

2. NurseJournal

NurseJournal offers clinical research studies, theories and practices, and free online courses. The information they cover are the same as college courses without the cost. If you’re looking for free education resources to further your knowledge in nursing, this site can help. These free online courses help you stay aware of developments in the field.

3. Nurse.com

If you need Continuing Education (CE) credits to meet your contact hours, Nurse.com offers them in many different forms. They have the options to choose between Nursing CE courses for state requirements, Free Nursing CE for contact hour requirements, and Unlimited Nursing CE for full access to all CE resources. Their courses are developed by professional nurses and other healthcare professionals and are jointly accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), and the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE).

4. NurseCEU.com

Here is another freebie. Nurse CEU is a free directory used to look for online CE courses. They make it simple for you to look for the courses you need so that you can achieve your license renewal requirements. They offer many courses with 45 different categories and they regularly check content to make sure it’s up to date.  Each company that submits the course needs to provide their accreditation information so Nurse CEU serves the best learning experience for nurses.

5. IntiviaHealth.com

Intivia Health offers free continuing education units (CEUs) for nurses. You can take your CEU on any device and you can filter your options between state, accreditation, and specialty. It is very user friendly, and you can track your progress to see many courses you’ve completed. It also shows you what the top courses are currently on their site and they are ANCC approved.

Hopefully, these resources for continuing education courses for nurses can help expand your knowledge and skills as a nurse and keep you up to date with current practices. Whether it’s required, or you want to expand your experience as a nurse, keep learning and have fun with it! There are many courses to choose from! Read about how advancing your education can be beneficial here.