Healthcare publisher Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, part of Wolters Kluwer Health, US, has announced that it has completed several updates to Lippincott's Professional Development Programs, a series of online continuing education solutions for nurses in hospitals and other health institutions. Two new categories of e-courses are now available including pediatrics and hospital-acquired diseases. In addition, five new nursing competency evaluations have been incorporated into the programme.
Lippincott's Professional Development Programs consist of evidence-based online courses organised into programmes by key nursing specialties and topic areas. Each course is developed and designed to optimise nurses' clinical performance. In addition, nurses can improve their management and leadership skills with goals that include continuous improvement of patient outcomes and ongoing evaluation of nursing competence. Most programmes consist of e-courses, which include case studies and/or tutorial modules delivered in easy-to-learn, interactive formats. Competency evaluations assess a nurse's ability to think critically and analyse clinical situations.
The new Hospital-Acquired Conditions programme consists of six new courses each addressing a single hospital-acquired condition. Also new is the Pediatric Nursing programme, which has a total of 13 courses addressing pediatric diseases and conditions. Several existing e-courses also were reviewed and, as appropriate, updated to meet new guidelines including the 12-Lead ECG, ECG Rhythm Strip program, and the Preventing Ventilator-Assisted Pneumonia (VAP) course.
In addition to new courses, five new competency evaluation modules were added which expand the program's evaluation component to include seven programmes and a total of 17 modules. These programmes evaluate the knowledge, critical thinking and analytical ability of nursing staff. Designed for healthcare institutions, these evaluations assess nurses' competency levels by providing online case study assessments that require knowledge of the latest evidence-based rationales.
Competency evaluation module test questions have been updated to utilise embedded audio including heart sounds and breath sounds to provide a more complex and interactive testing environment. The programmes and accompanying test exercises help build confidence as competency, skills and performance improve. Pre-test and post-test embedded self-assessments, images, charts and video clips add realism and improve information retention.
The upgraded Lippincott's Professional Development Programs are available immediately by subscription to hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
