Courses by Credit Type

This ebook has been designed to assist perioperative professionals deliver safe and effective patient care when smoke evacuation is used during operative and invasive procedures. The topics presented include: what we know about surgical smoke; the best defenses against surgical smoke; recommended United States (US) practices, guidelines, standards and regulations as well as international recommendations/guidelines on surgical smoke; and suggested steps for implementing a smoke evacuation program.

Review the basic principles of wound healing, the types of wound drains and drainage systems available, and wound drain system maintenance. You'll learn about standards of care and recommended practices for wound care to aid in infection prevention and positive patient outcomes.

This ebook discusses foreign debris-initiated post-surgical complications and their associated pathological mechanisms. It reviews the sources of debris contamination, including a description of foreign microbody characteristics that can further amplify pathological responses. Strategies to determine the presence of lint in the OR and recommendations for minimizing their presence are highlighted.

In the current era of antibiotic stewardship, with the prevalence of bacterial resistance to multiple antibiotic agents, there has been an interest in using perioperative antiseptics to reduce microbial contamination in the surgical site before closure and possibly reduce the need for antibiotic agents. This program is intended to better understand the proper implications of the different types of wound irrigations in relation to SSIs, cost, and efficiency.

This course provides an overview of the considerations in the selection and use of surgical gowns as a protective measure for both patients and staff. You'll review five criteria used in the selection of surgical gowns, the various types of materials used in the manufacture of surgical gowns, and a case study that will help you solidify your understanding.

Review the problem of retained surgical items (RSI), including their economic and clinical implications. Assessing human factors, creating a safety, quality culture and how you, as a leader, can help reduce adverse events such as RSIs is also discussed. Strategies to reduce the incidence of RSIs and promote positive patient outcomes, including the role of adjunct technology, are outlined.

In this educational activity, the role of common AF risk factors and biomarkers prediction of incident AF will be summarized. Current treatment options based on the latest clinical evidence for the management of AF will be discussed, including patient identification, indications for use and risks. Finally, recommendations from leading clinical guidelines will be reviewed.

The scope of this education activity will address the physiologic effects of different types of diabetes and the means of controlling diabetes to protect a person from diabetic complications and provide quality of life through treatment support.

Enhanced recovery protocols provide evidence-based guidance on best practices providers can use before, during, and after surgery to accelerate a patient’s recovery. This course will discuss strategies for enhancing patient recovery following surgical procedures to deliver quality care, improve outcomes, and reduce overall costs.

This education activity provides health care professionals, including those responsible for direct patient care, with the knowledge to understand where hazardous drug exposures can happen, how these exposures can harm staff directly and indirectly, and how personal protective equipment (PPE) can be selected and used, along with other practices to safely handle hazardous drugs.

This continuing education activity provides a review of the key considerations for the appropriate selection and use of surgical gowns as an infection prevention measure for both patients and the surgical team. Standards and guidelines pertaining to the selection and use of surgical gowns published by various federal agencies and professional organizations are covered.

The scope of this education activity will be limited to continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) to provide more in-depth coverage of differentiating between available options, best practices for glucose control, barriers to adoption, costs, benefits, and key issues related to reimbursement.

Apheresis is a procedure with significant physiologic outcomes, so the care of TA patients requires knowledge and skill of leading practices and innovative devices. This educational activity discusses the rationale for TA procedures and the nursing considerations in the delivery of apheresis care. Access methods will be reviewed along with the risks and adverse events associated with vascular access procedures.

While great strides have been made in protecting the patient, perioperatively-acquired pressure injuries continue to occur. This program discusses factors that contribute to the formation of pressure injuries in surgical patients, pressure injuries identification and staging, and strategies to prevent perioperatively-acquired pressure injuries.

Learn about how an evidence-based and team-based approach for positioning is needed to ensure a safe surgery. Evidence-based guidance from AORN and other safety sources is outlined in this elearning, including specific safe positioning recommendations for all surgical positions, even high-risk positions such as steep Trendelenburg.

Understanding the evidence for protective surgical glove use and hand health is a critical role for perioperative professionals. An overview of the trends in best practice for optimal surgical glove use will be discussed as well as the requirements and evidence-based practices that support these practice trends. Key activities perioperative nurses and other professionals should engage in to promote correct surgical glove use and hand health will also be discussed.

This continuing education activity will review the significance of irrigation fluid management, including the clinical care implications related to the use of irrigation fluid throughout the patient’s perioperative journey. The clinical team members’ roles related to irrigation fluid management will be outlined and the complications associated with the use of irrigation during a procedure will be reviewed.

This program identifies concerns currently associated with intraoperative transfusion and describes effective PBM strategies, including the use of topical hemostatic agents. The importance of using a validated intraoperative bleeding scale to assess and compare the efficacy of these agents is emphasized.

In this educational activity, the role of common AF risk factors and biomarkers prediction of incident AF will be summarized. Current treatment options based on the latest clinical evidence for the management of AF will be discussed, including patient identification, indications for use and risks. Finally, recommendations from leading clinical guidelines will be reviewed.

The purpose of this continuing education activity is to provide a review of the clinical considerations regarding the appropriate selection and use of facial protection devices in healthcare practice settings. It provides an overview of the health hazards inherent to the general healthcare and perioperative environment, criteria for appropriate selection and use of facial protection devices, and relevant regulations and recommendations for manufacture and use.