Nursing Continuing Education Seminars – Different Ways to Attend
As a healthcare professional, maintaining your license/credentials in good standing is an important part of your job. Earning credits in such critical subjects as infection control and pain management will also help you better serve your patients. When it comes to keeping up with best practices in the field of nursing, continuing education seminars offer an ideal interactive learning environment. There are several ways you can attend.
On Site
On site seminars offers several advantages from your employer’s perspective. The price per attendee is deeply discounted compared to off site classes. Employees can participate without taking time off to travel to a remote location. The cost to hire an outside presenter is much lower than the budget needed to maintain a full-time training department.
An on-the-job presentation is also a boon to you and your coworkers as you learn more about nursing. Continuing education seminars that take place on site ensure that everyone you work with is on the same page. As a bonus, this type of course is usually paid for by your employer.
The downside is that you probably won’t be able to pick the topic; but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Get together with your coworkers and find out what subjects your group feels would be most beneficial. Then, present this information to your employer for consideration.
Off Site
Attending an off site seminar is one way to take a break from your busy work week. In this learning environment, you will have the opportunity to network with nursing professionals from other facilities. Such interaction may offer you new perspectives on how to improve practices and resolve issues within your own organization.
Finding a presentation that is taking place at a convenient time and location will take some research. One way to widen your options is to consider attending a seminar while you are traveling for other purposes (such as vacation). There is actually an interesting new trend for vacationing and nursing – continuing education seminars presented as part of a cruise.
Live Online
Tele-seminars and webcasts allow you to participate in the give and take of a live class from the comfort of your home or workplace. This eliminates the expense of travel. You can pick your preferred topic without being restricted to presentations that are geographically close. If you are participating in a live, online class, you will need a high speed internet connection.
Many of these nursing continuing education seminars are also available on-demand via streaming video or CD. The drawback of this option is that you will not be able to ask questions as part of your learning experience.
When you view or participate in online presentations, you will generally complete a test at your convenience and send it in for scoring to receive your CE credits. Whatever your approach to continuing education, make sure the courses you choose are accredited by a reputable agency such as the NLNAC or the ANCC.