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Facts and Stats
- About 51.5% of nurses entering the workforce held either a BSN or an (entry-level) master’s degree*.
- In most US states and professional nursing organizations, continuing education (CE) is tracked through “contact hours**.” A 60-minute approved class counts as one contact hour.
- Within the years 2020 and 2022, the number of men*** in the nursing workforce rose from 9.4% to 11.2%.
Healthcare and medicine are always improving and evolving through advancements in knowledge and technology. Nursing, like any other medical-related field, is a lifelong learning process. You need to get educated constantly to be updated with the latest in the field.
After all, education is crucial to positive patient outcomes and evidence-based care. Over time, techniques will change. Knowing how important these changes are and the reasoning behind these changes can play a major difference in how you practice nursing and the outcomes for your patients.
According to studies, the mortality rates of patients are significantly improved when they are properly cared for by nurses equipped with higher education like Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
Although not a substitute for a bachelor’s degree, free nursing CE courses can still affect patient outcomes and quality of care by giving the necessary opportunities to enhance nursing practice knowledge and skills.
The LOWDOWN
Free nursing Continuing Education courses offer opportunities to learn the latest information and methods in safe patient care. With Nursing CE or Continuing Education Units (CEUs), nurses effectively adapt to the clinical advances and changes in the field.
However, not all states, or countries for that matter, require a nurse to have CEUs before the nursing license renewal. In lieu of free CEUs, they often enforce restrictions like continued employment on minimal shifts or require refresher courses. After being inactive for years, nurses returning to the field usually need to meet these requirements.
The 20 Free Continuing Education (CE) Courses for Nurses
So many people are happy to finally put their college days behind them after finally securing a job. After all, college is always regarded as one of the most stressful years of a student’s life. But in the healthcare industry, studying is a lifelong commitment.
Continued education should not stop right after you graduate from nursing. Along with their employers, nurses will realize so many benefits when pursuing continued education.
Introduction to Integrative Therapies and Healing Practices
The University of Minnesota, via Coursera
This is a very good free continuing education course designed to help you have a more serious and comprehensive view of integrative therapies, their classifications, characteristics, scope, and management.
Provided by the University of Minnesota, this is an introductory course that gives you a background on incorporating integrative therapies into your work with patients and clients.
After completing this free course, you can check whether or not integrative therapies are feasible options in a specific scenario.
You can also educate both colleagues and patients about the risks and benefits of such therapies. You become more confident in talking about the evidence base for integrative therapies alongside the challenges in this area.
This course has met the Minnesota Board of Nursing continuing requirements for 15 hours. You may qualify for CE credits from other boards that authorize self-documenting of continuing activities, but you may need to check with the local requirements of your regulatory board.
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable certificate
- The course is a great introduction to enhance nursing practice in the field
- Well-constructed and introduces a more holistic mindset in medicine.
Unconscious Bias in Medicine
Stanford University Online, via edX
This course is intended to meet the required educational needs of doctors from all specialties, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. Hosted by the Office of Faculty Development and Diversity at Stanford University of Medicine, this activity discusses:
- Present research on unconscious bias that provides a science-based view of this non-science field
- Case studies and samples of unconscious bias and self-assessment opportunities
- Discovering bias-busting methods that allow learners to know how to bring the content into their unique environments
This course is jointly accredited by the ACCME (Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education), ACPE (Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, and ANCC (American Nurses Credentialing Center) to educate and train the healthcare team.
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- No prerequisites needed
- Self-paced
- The course takes one week to complete
Antimicrobial Stewardship:
Improving Clinical Outcomes By Optimization of Antibiotic Practices
Stanford University Online, via edX
This three-week online course is offered for free and presented by Stanford University School of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine.
It offers practical ways to give antibiotic prescriptions, therapies, and the development of antimicrobial stewardship to healthcare professionals like doctors, nurses, and pharmacists across all specialties and settings. In this course, you will learn a lot of things like:
- Applying IDSA guidelines on how to treat infections like acute bronchitis and acute rhino-sinusitis cystitis.
- Incorporate standardized protocols and guidelines to recognize and advise the proper antibiotic therapies for treating sepsis.
- Come up with ways how to implement evidence-based practices for antimicrobial stewardship.
- Start a plan to lead an antimicrobial stewardship program
Like all Stanford Medicine programs, this course is accredited by the ANCC, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education.
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Self-paced
- The course takes three weeks to complete
- No requirements are needed upon enrollment
Integrative Nursing
The University of Minnesota, via Coursera
This specialization course will help you identify the proper ways of implementing the six principles of Integrative Nursing in your work setting.
You will then learn how to apply specific therapies at work, safety and quality considerations, and research evidence. This means you will learn how to partner with your patients in crafting plans of integrative care that will best fit their preferences and needs.
The specialization has four courses:
Course 1: Introduction to Integrative Nursing
This is where you will learn about the practices and principles of Integrative Nursing, and you can become a healing presence to your patients. An integrative assessment follows where you apply these principles in improving symptom management and overall patient outcomes.
Course 2: Aromatherapy. Clinical Use of Essential Oils
You get an overview of the current aromatherapy practices in clinical settings. The skills you learn from this course will give you the advantage of bringing aromatherapy into your practice.
Course 3: Guided Imagery
This is where you are taught how to use imagery and imagery interventions to help with symptom management and healing and improve one’s overall health and well-being.
Course 4: Mindfulness in Integrative Healthcare
You can assess when mindfulness can help your patients. You can teach them about the many benefits of mindfulness and even refer them to mindfulness resources and programs.
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable certificate
- Flexible Schedule
- The course is targeted at nurses and nursing students and is suitable for beginners.
Transitions in Care from Survivorship to Hospice
Stanford University, via Coursera
This course is designed to improve your palliative care skills- psychosocial support, communication, goals of care, and symptom management.
You will learn about the transitions in care hospice and survivorships and understand how you can make a survivorship care plan and support your patient.
The course also discusses spiritual care and how you can screen for spiritual distress and teaches you about the prerequisites for hospice care and discussions that are too difficult to handle, especially when it is related to end-of-life care.
Nurses and healthcare students in this CE program will learn to:
- Identify how the needs of each patient change as their prognosis changes
- Describe survivorship and other specific survivorship needs for your patients
- Identify the advantages of spiritual assessment and screening
- Describe hospice care and its difference from palliative care
These agencies jointly accredit Stanford Medicine and its CE programs:
- Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education
- Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education
- American Nurses Credentialing Center
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Flexible Deadline
- Ideal for beginners.
- Skills you will gain: spiritual distress, survivorship, and hospice
COVID-19 Training for Healthcare Workers
Stanford University, via Coursera
As COVID-19 continues to evolve as a virus and spread across the globe, healthcare providers must be prepared to identify, stabilize, and treat patients.
After completing this short course, nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals will have a unified, evidence-based approach to saving patients.
This course is self-paced and includes topics like signs and symptoms in patients with COVID-19, preventing the need for intubation, early stabilization of patients, and ventilator management. To sum it all up, the things you will learn from this course:
- Know the primary features of COVID-19 and common presenting symptoms
- Check and provide immediate care to patients in acute respiratory distress to avoid worsening
- Prevent the transmission of the virus to healthcare workers and other individuals
- Give advanced stabilization and management of patients in severe distress, including ventilator management.
This course has six modules, namely:
Module 1: COVID-19 Key Features, PPE and Vaccines
Module 2: Clinical Assessment of COVID-19 Patients
Module 3: Diagnostic Assessment of COVID-19 Patients
Module 4: Early Treatment of the Dyspneic COVID-19 Patient
Module 5: Advanced Treatment of the Severely Dyspneic COVID-19 Patient
Module 6: Initial Ventilator Management and Troubleshooting in COVID-19 Patients
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Flexible Deadline
- The course only takes 8 hours to complete
- It is filled with great tips and a well-illustrated and explained systematic approach to patients with varying degrees of illness.
Injury Prevention for Children and Teen
The University of Michigan, via edX
Injuries like youth violence, car crashes, and even suicide are some of the leading causes of child and teen death. However, these injuries can be prevented by applying evidence-based policies and practices.
The course is suitable for public health experts, social workers, physicians, nurses, childcare providers, and parents, who play a crucial role in pediatric injury prevention. Despite the many instances of injuries, very little training exists on injury prevention.
As one of the free nursing CE courses, it features the basic foundation of pediatric injury prevention. It gives you a clear understanding of this health issue through powerful, up-to-date, concise lectures, demonstrations, and interviews from a multidisciplinary panel of well-known prevention experts.
You can apply for the Continuing Medical Education (CME), Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Part II of the American Board of Pediatrics, or the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) credit.
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Flexible Deadlines
- Self-Paced
- Access to course materials
Virtual Care with Presence
Stanford Online, via edX
This is an Internet Enduring Material sponsored by Stanford University School of Medicine. Today’s healthcare system is rapidly improving and evolving.
Telemedicine is now the solution to fret out the risks of infection and protect patients, doctors, and all clinicians. Because of the pandemic, the outpatient setting is now taking place virtually. This course introduces you to the many strategies to foster meaningful connection and humanism during virtual visits.
The intended audience of the course includes:
- Specialties (all specialties)
- Professions (Advanced Practice Nurse, Fellow/Resident, Nurse, Non-Physician, Physical Therapist (DPT), Physician, Physician Assistant, Professional Nurse, Psychologists, Social Workers
What you will learn from the course:
- Utilize strategies to “Prepare with intention” and focus on oneself before doing a telemedicine visit
- Incorporate methods to “Listen intently and completely” during virtual visits with a patient
- Recognize priorities and goals with the patient during a virtual visit
- Virtually engage with the patient’s family and friends
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Flexible Deadline
- Self-paced
- No prerequisites are needed upon enrollment
Essentials of Palliative Care
Stanford University, via Coursera
This course teaches you about the journey of integrating palliative care into your life. You will understand the true scope of palliative care and how you can communicate with your patients, practice difficult conversations, and show empathy. You will know more about how to screen for distress and how you can provide psychosocial support.
For nurses, clinicians, and other healthcare professionals, this course guides you into incorporating daily palliative care and when you will seek a specialist. You can also help boost your patient’s quality of life and give them self-care tips. Other things you will learn from the course:
- Describe what palliative care is—its scope and the roles of primary teams in comprehensive care for patients and families.
- Elaborate on the different components of a treatment plan for an interdisciplinary patient. This includes emotional, physical, social, and spiritual care.
- Discuss and understand the basic methods of addressing relationship concerns in the context of serious illness.
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Flexible Deadlines
- The course takes 11 hours to complete
- There was a lot of information in the course
- The lecture was well-conveyed
Cancer Prevention Web-Based Activity
The University of Virginia, via Coursera
This is a very interesting course, especially since it discusses the critical fatal disease of cancer. This web-based video course focuses on prevention and risk reduction to minimize cancer issues.
Enrollees watch video modules, read related articles, and finally achieve at least 80% of the quizzes to complete the course. Once completed, a link is provided where students can claim their continuing medical and nursing education credit.
What you will learn:
- Understand the importance of the prevention, rather than the treatment, of cancer
- Know the link between public health and business and corporate practices
- Know and promote risk-reduction methods and healthy lifestyle choices
- Use critical information from the videos to impact chance at a micro and macro level
- Influence the public in minimizing the incidence of cancer diagnoses
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Flexible Deadline
- The whole course only takes four hours to complete
- It is suitable for beginners
- There is so much helpful information regarding cancer.
Mindfulness in Integrative Healthcare
The University of Minnesota, via Coursera
This well-organized and helpful course teaches you to assess when mindfulness is helpful for your patients. You teach them about the potential benefits and guide them in finding the right mindfulness programs and resources.
The course starts with you exploring and understanding what mindfulness is through direct experience and presentations. You will also know more about the research supporting both the risks and benefits of mindfulness for different conditions.
This course is designed to meet the Minnesota Board of Nursing’s CE requirements for ten contact hours and may be eligible for other professional boards allowing self-documenting of CE activities.
What you will learn:
- Elaborate on the advantages of mindfulness as supported by research evidence, including the possible impact on sleep issues, pain management, and anxiety.
- Recognize resources and programs (local in-person and online) where you can endorse your patients.
- Talk about the benefits of mindfulness for your professional.
- Know contraindications, talk about how you can identify them, and find out possible modifications to your recommendations.
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Flexible Deadline
- The course takes ten hours to complete
- This is an excellent course for starting to meditate and develop guided meditation.
COVID-19 Contact Tracing for Nursing Professionals
The University of Houston, via Coursera
This is a very informative and fast-moving course that contains some information on the policy and function of the public health system. This continuing professional development activity for nurses is duly approved by the Texas Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the Commission on Accreditation of the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
The course is for nursing professionals who wish to get a certificate in Contact Tracing, especially those who want to get 10 CEU credits from the Texas Nurses Association. However, to get the CE credit, you need to choose to obtain a Coursera certificate that costs $49.
What you will learn from the course:
- Determine the signs, symptoms, and modes of transmission and epidemiology of COVID-19
- Define the reasons for contact tracing, the context in which this is conducted, and find out the challenges and effective communication settings
- Identify the underlying risk factors that the vulnerable groups have to go through that predispose them to COVID-19
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Flexible Deadline
- The course takes 11 hours to complete
- Ideal for beginners
Supporting Families and Caregivers
Stanford University, via Coursera
Available for CME credit, this Stanford/Coursera CE course is duly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).
It is a specialization course that uncovers the challenges from the perspective of the people around the patient. It presents ways to give patients the care and support they need from family members, friends, social workers, or healthcare providers.
This free course focuses more on the patient’s children and caregivers. You are there to teach them the best ways to boost their morale and get the support they need.
After completing the course, you can provide avenues of support for those who play important roles in your patient’s care, well-being, and overall quality of life.
Skills you will gain:
- Caregiver support
- Palliative care
- Psychosocial support
- Child guidance
Best Features:
- 100% online and free ($49 fee to get the certificate)
- Flexible Deadline
- Shareable Certificate
- The course takes 11 hours to complete
- You are not required to take the other Palliative Care Always courses, although this can be a good start
Thinking Critically Series: Interpreting Screening Trials
Stanford Online, via edX
Designed for physicians, medical researchers, fellows, residents, nurses, physician assistants, and allied providers in all specialty areas, this Stanford Online-hosted free nursing CEU course seeks to enhance the clinical community’s skills in evaluating clinical research papers.
This CE course uses engaging and efficient videos with the necessary clinical examples to cover essential research methodology principles. You will learn how to analyze screening studies’ primary design features, develop methods to appraise these studies and identify if the study results are valid.
ACCME, ACPE and ANCC have jointly granted accreditation to this CE program for healthcare by Stanford University.
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Flexible Deadline
- Self-Paced
- No prerequisites are needed.
Mechanical Ventilation for COVID-19
Harvard University, via edX
This course offers an in-depth understanding of how mechanical ventilation works so you can assist the critical care team for patients who are receiving medication ventilation, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Every patient’s needs and clinical settings vary. Mechanical ventilators have to be used under the supervision of a qualified licensed medical professional.
This course is the perfect primer for non-ICU physicians and other clinicians expected to staff critical care areas. This course will help you understand further the basic ideas of mechanical ventilation.
What you will learn:
- The physiology and principles of mechanical ventilation
- Settings and adjustments of ventilators
- Troubleshooting the ventilator
- How to ventilate patients in special circumstances like obstructive lung disease and acute respiratory distress syndrome
- How to make waveform analysis while monitoring the patient
- How to assess a patient when extubating.
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Self-paced
- The course takes one week to complete
Identifying and Responding to Developmental Delay in Young Children
Stanford University, via edX
This free online course provides you with the tools and knowledge to recognize children at risk for developmental delays and endorse these kids for appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic services.
Using screencasts, videos, and case-based learning, you will gain more knowledge to perform recommended developmental surveillance and screening and refer at-risk children to Early Intervention Services.
Target audiences for this course are family medicine and community health, internal medicine, pediatrics, and affiliated professions in healthcare such as nurses and social services providing care to infants, young children, and their families.
Stanford Medicine’s CE program for the healthcare team has earned joint accreditation from:
- the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education or ACCME
- the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education or ACPE
- the American Nurses Credentialing Center or ANCC
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Flexible deadlines
- Self-paced
- The course takes only one week to complete
Palliative Care Always
Stanford University, via Coursera
This course takes you on your journey of integrating primary palliative care into your life. You will understand what palliative care is, how you communicate with your patient, how to show empathy, and how to practice difficult conversations properly.
You will learn more about the goals of advanced care planning and how to enhance your success when you have these talks with your patients. The course will also allow you to dig deeper into the cultural considerations and improve your understanding of cultural competency on the topics discussed.
What you will learn:
- The importance (scope and role) of palliative care being part of a patient and family’s care plan
- How to effectively communicate when responding to emotions, delivering tough news, and talking about goals of care
- The components of treatment plans for psychosocial, physical, and spiritual care. This includes screening, assessment, and the management of each patient’s needs
- The issues surrounding transitions in care (hospice transition or survivorship)
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Flexible Schedule
- Ideal for beginners
Introduction to Integrative Nursing
The University of Minnesota, via Coursera
This informative and very interesting course will give you a better perspective on your nursing care and your view of life. This course is designed for nurses who wish to practice differently—those who value whole-person care and understand that the whole essence of the nursing profession is truly caring and healing.
In this course, you will learn about the basic practices and principles of Integrative Nursing and how you can serve as a healing presence to your patients.
You will later have an integrative assessment and practice all the principles of Integrative Nursing in improving symptom management and overall patient outcomes. Other things you will learn from this very informative class include:
- Describing the six major principles of Integrative Nursing and their corresponding key behavioral indicators
- Applying Integrative Nursing strategies and goals in improving symptom management in patients
- Using the principles and clinical decision-making of Integrative Nursing within your scope to enhance nursing practice
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Flexible Deadline
- All the principles can apply to anyone who is in the medical care practice
To Prescribe or Not To Prescribe? Antibiotics and Outpatient Infections
Stanford University, via edX
This course is for doctors in family practice, internal medicine, primary care, obstetrics and gynecology, pharmacists, emergency medicine, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and allied health professionals.
This CME teaches you about practical approaches to managing common outpatient infections using patient role plays, didactic videos, and interactive case-based videos.
Attendees are expected to:
- Identify the scope and implications of wrongful antibiotic use in the outpatient setting
- Distinguish when antimicrobials are indicated in common outpatient infections
- Use efficient communication strategies when talking about antibiotic decisions with patients
- Choose the most suitable empiric antimicrobial choice and the duration of therapy for common outpatient bacterial infections.
To obtain CME Credits, you should:
- Complete the entire activity
- Complete the Post-test, Evaluation Survey, and Activity Completion Statement at the end of the activity.
- You should have a 75% or higher score on your post-test to receive a certificate. You are also given two attempts only to answer the multiple-choice questions to pass the post-test
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Self-paced
- Shareable Certificate
- The course can be completed in just one week
Hypertension in Primary Care- Improving Control and Reducing Risk
Stanford University, via edX
This CME course/activity elaborates on the critical information on the diagnosis and management of hypertension in the primary care setting.
Using interactive case presentations, the course covers the basic principles of hypertension pathophysiology and diagnosis, the development of appropriate hypertensive regimens for both resistant and uncomplicated hypertension, and recent hypertensive guidelines and trials.
This course is for physicians in family practice, primary care, cardiology, nephrology, internal medicine, and other allied health professionals like physician assistants and nurse practitioners.
What you will learn:
- Do the appropriate diagnostic assessments
- Recognize the physiologic drivers of hypertension and their treatment implications
- Apply the latest guidelines and students to hypertensive fare
- Give the right prescription regiments to resistant hypertension patients
Best Features:
- 100% online and free
- Shareable Certificate
- Self-paced
- The course takes one week to complete
The Benefits of Free Nursing CEU Courses for Nurses and Employers
Nurses work on unusual shifts, and squeezing in CEUs is difficult to understand. However, enrolling in these classes can prove crucial in keeping your career over time.
They are essential for nursing license renewal as well! Thankfully, there are many courses available these days that you can take online or at your own pace. But why should you get those CEUs? What good will it make on your career as a nurse?
CE Helps You Develop New Skills
The healthcare industry is an ever-changing field. Registered nurses must always be updated with the latest medical practices and information. The things you learn in your CEUs are proven and tested to work, thus assuring you that you are always keeping up with the industry standards.
CE Helps You Grow as an Employee
Do you remember how it felt when your supervisors and colleagues praised you for something you did? When you have CEUs, this will help you grow as an employee, thus boosting your reputation in the field.
These classes also work as a refresher. If you feel like your nursing skills are slowly far behind you, then a CE is an incredibly helpful class to have as a refresher.
Having a renewed knowledge will also further solidify your reputation as a trusted person in your workplace. When you can answer questions or provide the right info, this can help you establish yourself as a model to your peers in your workplace.
CE Courses Maintain Your License
Be aware of nursing license renewal requirements. You must complete your CEUs to maintain your nursing license as a nurse. Many states require registered nurses to have a certain number of contact hours and CEU hours biannually or annually.
It Re-sparks Your Passion
After some time, everybody experiences burnout at work, especially when they are not feeling motivated. Registered nurses commit their all to their profession.
Thus, it is understandable that at some point, they feel like they are slowly losing their passion, especially when they are not constantly challenged.
If you feel like you are suddenly not that passionate about being a nurse, one amazing way to reinvigorate that love for your field is through CEs. CEUs are diverse. You can choose any course to enroll in to fulfill the hours required by your employer.
CE Gives You Financial Benefits
A CE course, which you can get for free, takes you ahead of your contemporaries and gives you an advantage, especially if you want to advance your career. When you have CEUs under your belt, this helps build your credibility.
This kind of background and credibility is very attractive to potential employers. If you are currently in the position you want, you can leverage your knowledge to raise your salary.
Meanwhile, many employers see these state-mandated CEUs as nothing more than just another box that they have to tick off. However, healthcare employers should understand that supporting CEUs for nurses will significantly improve the quality of their staff and practice.
It builds satisfaction and loyalty.
Employers who fully support professionals earning nursing CEUs, complete with the right resources and funds, can see a growth of loyalty and trust. Employers that support their registered nurses’ CE goals can expect to have well-trained assets to the organization.
Thus, they will remain loyal and committed to your organization. Nurses who professionally advance will be happy with their improvement and work. As a result, this will lead to better satisfaction with the organization they work for.
CE Improves Quality of Care
Your organization’s reputation heavily relies on the quality of care you give to your patients. Therefore, make sure that your registered nurses are strictly adhering to the most current practices in the industry to deliver the best quality care possible. Plus, the knowledge increases after completing their CEUs, and nurses become more informed and mindful about the safety of the workplace.
Financial Benefits
According to research, 39% of registered nurses voiced that their employers paid for or gave a reimbursement for their CE. As an employer, giving your nurses free CEUs, or supporting them financially to complete a course, may sound like a big investment, but something worth making.
It is very expensive to train new registered nurses! Thus, instead of hiring and training new ones, why not build on the skills of your current staff? It is much less expensive and will lower your turnover rate.
Here’s How to Earn Your Free Continuing Education Units for Nursing
As a nursing professional, you know that education does not stop the moment you graduate from college. Nursing CEUs are extremely important throughout your career.
But with so many tasks at work and so little time to do extra things like getting CEUs, how do you earn these units without compromising your current job? Here are some quick and easy ways for you to earn them.
Nursing CEUs Online
You can find several classroom-based CE providers in the medical field because these classes need hands-on learning most of the time.
However, not all such courses will require in-person attendance. In this case, it is highly recommended to obtain your nursing CEUs online to make them accessible and quick.
Online learning gives you so many perks like:
- They are often less expensive than in-person study
- Because of its convenient learning style, you can just take your courses anytime, anywhere. This is particularly valuable, especially for registered nurses with very demanding and busy schedules.
- It helps you save time because you will no longer have to commute to and from school. You also save money on gas, school supplies, and more.
- You are guaranteed a distraction-free way to learn at your own pace
If you need a CEU fast, always go for online learning. Some of the excellent websites that offer nursing CEUs include:
Another great thing about online learning is your ability to review your classes. Most of the courses, once purchased, can be revisited many times over. You will be able to build your online course library filled with valuable information to return to if you need a refresher.
Nursing CEU Conferences and More
One of the most needed educational requirements for nursing is lifelong learning. Therefore, getting CEUs is a very popular thing. Many providers these days turned something so tedious into something exciting and fun—thus the birth of conferences and more.
Conferences are exciting breaks from your busy nursing schedule. Apart from the nice hotel and room service at the conference, you also can meet new friends and reconnect with new ones. At the end of the conference, you can even have a great meal and a fun night in the city while earning those CEUs.
Below are some of the providers of CEU-accredited conferences you might like to learn more about.
- MedSeminars is the leading organization that provides CEUs in conference and online formats. They have more than thirty years of experience, thus making them one of the leaders in the industry in providing registered nurses with training and CEs.
- MER organizes its conference offering by month. In a single month, they conduct over ten conferences in states like South Carolina, Florida, and California, to name a few.
- Nursing Network not only provides conference information. It is also an amazing resource for nursing-specific CEU details.
Free CEUs for Nurses
It may sound too good to be true, but there are a lot of free CEUs for nurses. Although most courses cost money, you can seek out free ones to make the process easier.
Check out the best places to find free CEUs for nurses:
Just a quick tip: before starting any type of CEU course—paid or free- make sure you check out your state requirement to ensure you choose the right CEU courses by state.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can nurses earn free CEUs?
You can earn your nursing education credits in a variety of settings. Nurses who attend workshops, conferences, or seminars are qualified for free nursing CEU. Academic nursing courses and online educational classes also count toward CEUs.
However, for your CEU to be officially recognized by the state board of nursing, you will have to go through several authorization processes that will need you to forward all the necessary documentation to an accrediting body.
Additionally, you can find hospital systems offering free CEUs at your place of work throughout the year. However, every state’s board of nursing has different criteria for free nursing CEU approval. Check with your state board whether or not your hours qualify.
How many CEUs do you need every year?
To find out how many CEUs you need, Nurse.org has a detailed compilation and a complete list of CEU requirements. Some states have specific requirements for specific education classes like narcotics, child abuse, and COVID-19 vaccination as part of their total mandatory CEU credits.
You need to earn at least 20-30 contact hours with every nursing renewal (usually every two years). After your renewal window lapses, your CEU accumulation starts again. Remember that you cannot carry over your CEUs from your previous years and use them throughout your career.
Can you get CEUs for free?
Yes, you can. There are so many employers today that offer free classes. Some local universities also host guest lectures. Since you will need CEUs during your entire nursing career, you should take your CEUs seriously. It is pricey, but thankfully, they are still offered free of charge today.
Summary Points
Again, for your CEUs to count, obtain them from an approved or accredited provider. Understand your state’s specific continuing education requirements so that you won’t accidentally take a course that doesn’t count. After choosing your approved course, use these simple tips to earn a nursing CEU quickly!
- Choose free CE courses when you can, or better yet, ask your employer for help with the cost.
- Take online courses for flexibility and ease.
- Attend seminars, vacations, and CEU conferences.
Additional Information:
