Nursing is a growing profession in the United States and more in demand than ever since COVID-19.
The Department of Labor projects Registered Nurses to grow 9% by 2030. On average, nurses make $36.22 or $75,330 per year in the US.
Becoming a nurse requires a few years of schooling, but seeking out additional courses to learn more can be helpful especially free resources. You can also earn contact hours for continuing education requirements.
Read on to find out more about free nursing schools or an online nursing class that may fit your needs.
Workplace Violence Prevention for Nurses
The CDC has an interactive course that’s free for nurses to prevent violence in the workplace. Nurses can earn CEUs after completing the course.
The main goal is for nurses to understand the nature of violence by recognizing warning signs, identifying resources to help injured coworkers, implementing communication and teamwork to prevent violence, and more.
There are six modules to complete that involve explaining different types of violence, consequences, risk factors, prevention, and post-event response.
You take this course on most compatible devices, including a desktop, tablet, and smartphone.
COVID-19: Challenges Around Vaccinations
If you’re looking to take a unique yet relevant course that can earn .50 CEUs, this course from Nurse.com dives into a hot topic amongst healthcare workers. The course will be terminated on April 2024, although it’s also free.
The course objective involves tackling misinformation, discussing structural bias in the workplace, and addressing healthcare workers’ concerns about the vaccine.
COVID-19: Managing Staff Mental Health During a Pandemic
The mental health of nurses and other healthcare workers took a downturn during the pandemic, emotionally and physically draining many professionals.
This course earns .50 CEUs, is free on Nursing.com, and will be terminated in April 2024.
The goals of the course involve discussing the consequences of COVID-19 on mental health, data research and discussion, and learning self-care tactics for prevention.
Nursing Home Infection Preventionist Training Course
This CDC course offers extensive learning about nursing home infection prevention, with 24 modules and many CEU contact hours to earn. Depending on your profession, you can earn between 2 to 19.75 contact hours.
The course is flexible and best taken on a computer, as each module goes in-depth on various topics. The main objectives involve identifying pathogens, listing risk factors, identifying prevention and control, implementing strategies, and how teaching staff about preventions in the nursing home.
NIOSH Training for Nurses on Shift Work and Long Work Hours
It’s no secret nurses work long hours. This course by the CDC educates and informs nurses about the safety risks of long work hours.
The course is free and helps you earn 1.75 CEUS. There are 12 modules separated into two parts.
Part 1 talks about health risks caused by long shifts, identifying risks linked to long hours and individual factors that can lead to differing symptoms after extensive work hours.
Nursing Studies – Diet Therapy
If you want to learn more about how diet can affect a patient’s recovery, Alison offers a 1.5 to 3-hour course about diet therapy for nurses.
It’s accredited and published by MedCoE.
This course teaches you the fundamentals of diet and how it can help patients be more physically able and fight off diseases. Also, you will learn about various conditions that may occur in the body, such as intestinal and bowel food-related diseases.
There are just two modules covering the learning outcomes, factors that influence diet, why diets are important, a nurse’s role in hospital diet, and much more.
Starting Your Career as an Advanced Practice RN
Nurses who want to advance their careers can learn about the different types of APRNs. Advanced nursing degrees are rewarding and allow you to treat patients in another way that’s different from other nurses, such as prescribing medication.
The course will be terminated in March 2023 and available for free from South University through Nurse.com. It is also worth 1.0 contact hours towards continuing education.
You will learn the different types of APRNs, differentiate each APRN and their requirements, and learn where to get resources to pursue an APRN career.
Alzheimer’s Disease & Dementia Care
Nurses who have frequent contact with individuals in nursing homes or hospitals suffering from dementia or memory-related diseases can take advantage of this course.
The Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Care course by Salisbury University and the University of Maryland is taught by a knowledgeable Geriatric Nurse with years of experience.
The course, however, is not geared towards nurses specifically. Although, you can still receive a certificate and gain knowledge about a vulnerable population.
It’s estimated you will spend five weeks taking the course with about 2 to 3 hours per week dedicated to the class. Also, you can learn at your own pace.
A Nurse’s Guide to Preventing Compassion Fatigue, Moral Distress, and Burnout
Nurses go through many emotions that can take a toll on their work, physically and mentally. This course teaches you how to stay motivated and resilient while facing the challenging demands of the workplace.
This course is provided by the American Nurses Association and sponsored by the American Nurses Foundation.
The key objectives you’ll learn in this course involve learning how to build confidence during adversity, reducing and preventing physical and emotional consequences, and how to build resilient teams.
You can earn 1.4 contact hours after completing this course.
Advanced Cardiac Life Support
This course is geared towards many professionals that will face patients that may be impacted by cardiac arrest.
You will learn the best practices on how to respond during life-threatening emergencies and interventions. The course teaches you how to perform advanced interventions and learn the foundations of cardiac arrests, what causes them, and how to respond.
The ACLS course involves 27 lectures worth over 2 hours of content. You can take an ACLS exam if you wish to receive certification. For nurses, this course is about learning new techniques and how to handle life-threatening situations, as you will not receive CEUs in this course.
Cardiac Arrest After Cardiac Surgery: An Evidence-Based Resuscitation Protocol
Another cardiac arrest course nurses can take and receive 1 hour of contact hours for continuing education is Cardiac Arrest After Cardiac Surgery.
This is a specific event that can occur and teaches nurses how to prepare. Cardiac arrest after surgery can be a rare event, but it doesn’t mean it would not happen. Nurses should be trained for all scenarios if they take care of many patients that involve life-threatening emergencies.
The main objectives you’ll learn in this course involve describing the key roles everyone has in the hospital during this emergency, why defibrillation is important, and how to restrict the use of epinephrine.
Patient Temperature Management
Hypothermia can occur in healthcare, making it necessary for nurses to learn how to control their patient’s temperature. This course is free on Nurse.com, sponsored by Stryker, and worth one continuing education credit.
You will learn in-depth about hypothermia, how to identify risks, prevent adverse outcomes and indicate interventions, and how to plan hypothermia when it’s necessary.
The course is short yet effective and is accredited. Also, the course is a webinar that goes over the key objectives, meaning you won’t have to do any extensive studying but learn from an instructor live or recorded.
Minimizing the Burden of Influenza: New and Emerging Strategies
The flu is still prevalent today as a respiratory disease that most people can recover from, but it can also be fatal to vulnerable populations.
This course is approved as one contact hour for continuing education by the AANP.
After completing the course, you should be more equipped to identify which patients are best for antiviral therapy, assess each patient’s risk of complications from influenza, and how to stay within guidelines and protocols.
Also, you’ll learn how to determine influenza treatment by assessing symptoms and signs, accurately interpreting diagnostic tests.
Lastly, you will gain knowledge on how to individualize treatment for each patient.
Community Practice Connections™: Are you Focusing on Chronic Kidney Disease?
The respiratory and cardiac systems get a lot of attention from nurses, but what about the kidneys? They also can play a role in stroke, cardiac, and other-related emergencies.
In this course, you will learn about diabetic kidney disease, how to recommend screening, evaluate the efficiencies of therapists administered, and how to recognize the complexity of kidney disease.
Also, you can learn how what approaches to take to intervene in the disease progression.
You will also earn one contact hour for continuing education. It is also accredited by the California Board of Nursing.
Conclusion
Free online nursing courses are still valuable, as they provide contact hours and the latest information on tackling relevant issues.
Some free nursing schools also offer certificates that are shown as proof you’ve completed the course, allowing you to earn credits.
Every online nursing class isn’t for every type of nurse, but most courses cater to healthcare worker issues that are still important today.
Overall, take advantage of free online nursing courses today to earn CEUs or knowledge!
