Free Nursing CEUs & Where to Find Them
You can find free nursing CEUs fairly easily if you know where to look on the web. Depending on the state in which you work, you may be required to complete up to 30 contact hours every 2 years in order to maintain your license or none may be required at all.
Unfortunately, state nursing boards vary in their requirements pretty dramatically, so there's no set standard when it comes to what is required to continue legally performing your duties. Luckily, there are people out there who've compiled the requirements of each state into one table, making it much easier to decipher just what your state requires of you. You'll find this particularly useful if you're searching for a new position in another state and need some help wading through the confusion.
However, state requirements are not the only element that varies when it comes to CEU requirements. Prices can play a big role in the choice you make as well. Some CEUs may only be available at a cost, but many others can be taken for free and carry just as much weight as those that'd make a dent in your bank account. Why pay for something when you can fulfill the requirement at no cost at all?
Find Free Nursing CEUs:
3M Healthcare Academy
3M Healthcare Academy offers practical education content online and free of charge for nurses of nearly all specialties, physical therapists, physicians, environmental science professionals, sterile process professionals, ambulatory surgery center professionals, and would care specialists.
Their educational areas include:
- Skin Care
- Wound Care
- I.V. Site
- Infection Prevention - Ambulatory Surgery, Hospital Hygiene, Patient Monitoring, Surgical Solutions, & Sterilization and Monitoring
- Edema Management
- Professional Development
American Nurses Association
The American Nurses Association has developed the Nursing Knowledge Center in order to provide educational products and services to individual nurses, as well as healthcare organizations.
Their workshops, webinars, consultation services, and publications were developed by nurses, for nurses, and support the ANA's mission of advancing the nursing profession holistically.
The ANA offers free Nursing CEUs as well as other content in the following subject areas:
|
|
ANHI.org
The Abbott Nutrition Health Institute offers free nursing CEUs as well as other self-study courses designed for dietitians and case managers.
The courses offered cover a wide array of study areas including neonatal, pediatric, adult, and geriatrics, with each of those breaking down further into subcategories to make finding the CEUs you need easier.
Arizona.edu
The University of Arizona offers an environmental health course that results in 6 CMEs/CEs for physicians, NPs, PAs, and nurses.
The course is based on the premise that "what we eat or are exposed to in our environment has a direct effect upon our health," and examines the importance of considering environmental factors in patient cases, develops a working knowledge of the strengths and limitations of environmental health research, and works to help healthcare professionals understand why certain populations are particularly vulnerable.
The university also offers several paid courses from Anti-Inflammatory Diet to Prostate Cancer, and everything in between. However, most cost more than $120.00, with Environmental Health: An Integrative Approach being their sole free course.
BD.com
BD.com offers a free continuing education program titled Insulin Injection Technique, which offers 1.5 contact hours for physicians, diabetes educators, nurses, dietitians, and pharmacists. The course is offered in webinar format and works to examine the prevailing assumptions about the effects of factors such as needle length on insulin delivery by describing evidence-based injection techniques and education strategies to maximize the medication's effect in different patient populations.
Those who complete the course will understand how the thickness of skin and subcutaneous tissue affects the injection technique, the psychological barriers to injecting insulin and approaches to mitigating them, be able to list factors influencing insulin absorption, injection pain, and strategies to decrease that pain, and they'll be able to match injection practice parameters to the needs of the individual.
CDC.gov
If you're looking for a solid place to find free nursing CEUs, look no further than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Simply click the link above and you'll be taken to their Training and Continuing Education center. Complete your registration and you'll find the course catalog indexing many free classes for you to consider before making a decision.
Chop.edu
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia offers free nursing CEUs in webinar format every few months. The current course being offered is the Vaccine Webinar Series which, in partnership with the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, aims for healthcare professionals to interpret and employ new vaccine information, discuss vaccine-related information with patients and families, and to provide science-based resources to patients seeking additional information.
The course is accredited for one CPE, one CME, and 0.1 CEU.
eLearnOnline.net
Think, Care, Act: The Role of the Nurse in Organ and Tissue Donation is the title of the course offered by eLearnOnline.net for free. It awards 3.4 contact hours after participants pass the examination with at least 70% and pass an evaluation.
Upon completion, participants will have learned how to discuss the need for organ and tissue donation, the challenges regarding it, the process of organ transplantation, the benefits on the recipient, the laws and regulations that impact donations, the differences between circulatory death and brain death, and how they relate to donations, the critical aspects of the authorization process, and the role of the registered nurse in donations including referral, donor management, recovery, and aftercare.
Incredible Health
Incredible Health offers ANCC-accredited courses for nurses in all 50 U.S. states. You can choose from among hundreds of different courses including topics like "Coronavirus: Everything you need to know," "Vaping: A growing trend with serious health implications," and "Opiates: How nurses can help curb the epidemic." Just create a free Incredible Health account to get started.
Johns Hopkins Nursing
Surprisingly, Johns Hopkins Nursing, one of the most prestigious institutions in the country, offers both free and paid nursing CEU courses in a myriad of categories. A few examples of the free courses offered include 'Clinical Orientation for Visitors,' 'eCystic Fibrosis Review,' 'eDiabetes Review,' 'eHIV Review,' 'eNeonatal Review,' 'Elder Abuse: Assessing and Managing Abuse and Neglect,' and many others.
If you're unsure about the source of the free CEUs you're considering, you can be confident that JHN is trustworthy.
Medscape Nursing
In order to access the free CEUs available via Medscape Nursing you must first create a free account to gain access. After gaining access you'll be taken to a page that highlights the current continuing education activities for the specialty you registered. Clicking on any link with a red CME or CME/CE next to it to access the individual activity.
A window will pop up offering you the information outlining the type and number of credits available. When finished with the article, click the 'Earn CME Credit' button to access the test. Each requires at least a 70% or higher to pass.
Nurse.com
Nurse.com provides nurses of all specialties with free CE courses hosted online in a variety of media options, including audio and traditional print media. However, like many others, they offer a mix of paid and cost-free courses, so you'll need to decide exactly which courses you want to pursue before completing any.
Examples of courses offed by Nurse.com include 'The Role of the Certified Legal Nurse Consultant,' 'Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS),' and 'Leading in the Community: Nursing Leadership Across the Continuum.' Head over to Nurse.com and check out what they have to offer!
The National Diabetes Education Initiative offers, you guessed it, a hub for free nursing CEUs for those seeking to learn more about diabetes and the treatment techniques surrounding it.
Consolidated on the NDEI site, you'll find vast array of courses that vary in depth and difficult, depending on your professional level, and most are hosted by third parties. Before registering for a particular course, double check and be sure that they offer credit. Some do not.
NurseCEU.com
NurseCEU.com is an online directory that catalogs online continuing education courses for nurses and many other healthcare professionals.
Their goal is to consolidate CEUs into one easy-to-use database to make it easier to sharpen your skills and ensure your qualifications stay current. As of now, they have nearly 1,000 registered courses in 45 topical areas of study for your to peruse at your leisure. Some of these courses are paid, but many listed are completely free of charge.
USATravmed.com
USATravmed is a hub that serves as a compiled list of free nursing CEUs, as well as CEUs for many other healthcare professions including nurse practitioners, physicians, pharmacists, social workers, case managers, respiratory therapists, sleep techs, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, dietitians, CNAs, and radiology techs.
