Continuing Education (CE) Class Catalog
Click on a calendar item above or scroll below to learn more about a course and register.
CE courses are free to National Nurses United members. Classes are only offered to direct-care and staff RNs.
Partnering with our Patients and Preventing Workplace Violence
This is a two-part, in-person CE Class from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (6 hours of CE credits). If you’re a UC nurse, an extra hour will be available from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Participants must be in attendance all day to receive the full 6 CEU CE credits, even if they have taken one of the classes prior to the sign-up date.
Part 1 — Partnering with Our Patients: Nurses, Worker Power, and Health Justice
We know there is a strong correlation between unionization and improved health outcomes for workers. For nurses, this connection can also positively impact their patients. This course will analyze how union nurses have partnered with patients to respond to a radically changing health care system and economy. We will examine the growth of RNs’ collective power through decades of organizing and how these struggles have improved the health and welfare of nurses, patients, and communities across the country. We will also look at the broader history of unions in the U.S., examine current debates about the future of workers and unions, and identify reforms that would further empower nurses in the fight for workplace health and safety, high-quality patient care, and health justice in our communities.
Part 2 — Preventing Workplace Violence to Protect Nurses and Our Patients
Workplace violence rates in health care have accelerated significantly since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, on top of steep increases seen over the past decade. Nurses experience significant impacts from workplace violence, including physical and psychological injuries, stress, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. It is no surprise that workplace violence is implicated in high rates of turnover and nurses’ decisions to leave the profession.
This class will examine the issue of workplace violence and how it arises in health care settings. We will explore contributing factors and reasons for the recent acceleration in rates. Then, we will investigate workplace violence prevention measures by examining data and experiences on effectiveness. The class will conclude with a discussion about the strategies that nurses can employ to prevent workplace violence and to advocate for safer patient care in their facilities.
The Biology of Inequality and AI 101
This is a two-part, in-person CE Class from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (6 hours of CE credits). If you’re a UC nurse, an extra hour will be available from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Participants must be in attendance all day to receive the full 6 CEU CE credits, even if they have taken one of the classes prior to the sign-up date.
Part 1: The Biology of Inequality: The Health Impacts of Social Environments
Description
Nurses know firsthand that social conditions affect access to health care, exposure to health risks, and health outcomes for patients. But what exactly are the pathways and mechanisms by which “social determinants” like poverty, pollution, and discrimination manifest in the body and impact health? This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to investigate how social, economic, and political inequalities and injustices materialize in individual, population, and even generational health. The class will also consider what the implications are for union nurses as patient advocates and discuss how nurses can help remedy the pathogenic effects of inequality and injustice on human health and society.
Part 2: AI 101: What to know about AI in healthcare and its effects on patient advocacy
What is AI? How does it work? How will it impact patient care and the nursing profession? This course will provide an overview of what artificial intelligence is and how it works, explore the types of technologies that employ AI in healthcare settings, and analyze the potential benefits and risks to patients and our communities. This course will also explore the ways nurses can ensure that AI and other data-driven technologies will not degrade the quality of the care they provide.
Preventing Workplace Violence to Protect Nurses and Our Patients
Workplace violence rates in health care have accelerated significantly since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, on top of steep increases seen over the past decade. Nurses experience significant impacts from workplace violence, including physical and psychological injuries, stress, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. It is no surprise that workplace violence is implicated in high rates of turnover and nurses’ decisions to leave the profession.
This class will examine the issue of workplace violence and how it arises in health care settings. We will explore contributing factors and reasons for the recent acceleration in rates. Then, we will investigate workplace violence prevention measures by examining data and experiences on effectiveness. The class will conclude with a discussion about the strategies that nurses can employ to prevent workplace violence and to advocate for safer patient care in their facilities.
The Fight for Reproductive Justice and Global Solidarity, Global Health
This is a two-part, in-person CE Class from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (6 hours of CE credits). If you’re a UC nurse, an extra hour will be available from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Participants must be in attendance all day to receive the full 6 CEU CE credits, even if they have taken one of the classes prior to the sign-up date.
Part 1: The Fight for Reproductive Justice
Description
Life-saving reproductive health care is under attack. In this class, we will discuss how the current assault on women’s and gender oppressed people’s reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy fits within the wider history of reproductive health and health care in the U.S. The course will review the overwhelming evidence that reproductive health care is life-saving care, and it will examine the health disparities that highlight the need for nurses to advocate for health justice, gender justice, and racial justice simultaneously. Finally, we will discuss why resisting current attacks on reproductive health care is essential to advancing wider efforts to protect democracy and to advance health and economic justice.
Part 2: Global Solidarity, Global Health
Description
This course will analyze the global relationship between public health, nursing, and international solidarity among health care workers, their patients, and their communities. We will investigate how global issues such as the growing refugee crisis, environmental racism, climate change, and nurse migration all impact public health. This course will also show the international factors that shape the health, safety, and well-being of working people. We will conclude by exploring how principles of global solidarity can empower nurses to continue to advocate for patients and grow their collective power.
Global Solidarity, Global Health, and Partnering with our Patients
This is a two-part, in-person CE Class from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (6 hours of CE credits). If you’re a UC nurse, an extra hour will be available from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Participants must be in attendance all day to receive the full 6 CEU CE credits, even if they have taken one of the classes prior to the sign-up date.
Part 1: Global Solidarity, Global Health
Description
This course will analyze the global relationship between public health, nursing, and international solidarity among health care workers, their patients, and their communities. We will investigate how global issues such as the growing refugee crisis, environmental racism, climate change, and nurse migration all impact public health. This course will also show the international factors that shape the health, safety, and well-being of working people. We will conclude by exploring how principles of global solidarity can empower nurses to continue to advocate for patients and grow their collective power.
Part 2: Partnering with our Patients: Nurses, Worker Power, and Health Justice
Description
We know there is a strong correlation between unionization and improved health outcomes for workers. For nurses, this connection can also positively impact their patients. This course will analyze how union nurses have partnered with patients to respond to a radically changing health care system and economy. We will examine the growth of RNs’ collective power through decades of organizing and how these struggles have improved the health and welfare of nurses, patients, and communities across the country. We will also look at the broader history of unions in the U.S., examine current debates about the future of workers and unions, and identify reforms that would further empower nurses in the fight for workplace health and safety, high-quality patient care, and health justice in our communities.
AI 101 and Partnering with our Patients
This is a two-part, in-person CE Class from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (6 hours of CE credits). If you’re a UC nurse, an extra hour will be available from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Participants must be in attendance all day to receive the full 6 CEU CE credits, even if they have taken one of the classes prior to the sign-up date.
Part 1: AI 101: What to know about AI in health care and its effects on patient advocacy
What is AI? How does it work? How will it impact patient care and the nursing profession? This course will provide an overview of what artificial intelligence is and how it works, explore the types of technologies that employ AI in health care settings, and analyze the potential benefits and risks to patients and our communities. This course will also explore the ways nurses can ensure that AI and other data-driven technologies will not degrade the quality of the care they provide.
Part 2: Partnering with our Patients: Nurses, Worker Power, and Health Justice
We know there is a strong correlation between unionization and improved health outcomes for workers. For nurses, this connection can also positively impact their patients. This course will analyze how union nurses have partnered with patients to respond to a radically changing health care system and economy. We will examine the growth of RNs’ collective power through decades of organizing and how these struggles have improved the health and welfare of nurses, patients, and communities across the country. We will also look at the broader history of unions in the U.S., examine current debates about the future of workers and unions, and identify reforms that would further empower nurses in the fight for workplace health and safety, high-quality patient care, and health justice in our communities.
The “Forces of Magnetism”: Their Impact on RN Autonomy, Independent Judgment, and Advocacy
Course Description
This course examines how the models of care, nursing leadership and management style promoted by magnet status designation schemes negatively impact the registered nurse’s ability to exercise independent professional judgment and advocate in the exclusive interest of the patient.
This will be a 2-hour online class via Zoom for 2 hour of continuing education credits.
The Fight for Reproductive Justice and Combating Disparities in LGBTQI+ Health Care
This is a two-part, in-person CE Class from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (6 hours of CE credits). If you’re a UC nurse, an extra hour will be available from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Participants must be in attendance all day to receive the full 6 CEU CE credits, even if they have taken one of the classes prior to the sign-up date.
Part 1: The Fight for Reproductive Justice
Description
Life-saving reproductive health care is under attack. In this class, we will discuss how the current assault on women’s and gender oppressed people’s reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy fits within the wider history of reproductive health and health care in the U.S. The course will review the overwhelming evidence that reproductive health care is life-saving care, and it will examine the health disparities that highlight the need for nurses to advocate for health justice, gender justice, and racial justice simultaneously. Finally, we will discuss why resisting current attacks on reproductive health care is essential to advancing wider efforts to protect democracy and to advance health and economic justice.
Part 2: Queering Care: How Nurses can Combat Disparities in LGBTQI+ Health and Health Care
Description
This course will examine the unmet health needs and unique health care disparities faced by LGBTQI+ people in the U.S. We will focus on the impacts of institutional discrimination, clinical pathologization, and criminalization on both individual patients and at the public health level. Using the most up-to-date evidence and data, the class will analyze how gender and sexuality interact as social determinants of health, as well as debunk misinformation regarding the care and treatment of LGBTQI+ patients. We will consider the current wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation, and more specifically, how recent restrictions on life-saving health care for transgender people exacerbate health disparities, systemic barriers to care, and poor health outcomes.
Within this context, the course reviews the ongoing struggle for LGBTQI+ health justice and how it is a necessary piece of the larger struggle for health equity. As clinicians and patient advocates, nurses have an important role in that struggle and a unique opportunity to resist institutional discrimination, combat misinformation and political attacks, and help safeguard equitable care for LGBTQI+ patients.
The Latest Science on Long Covid and Its Impact on Nurses, Patients, and the Public
Course Description
Colloquially known as long Covid, post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) is a multifaceted syndrome that can impact nearly every organ system and can lead to persistent, debilitating symptoms following initial infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Long Covid is keeping an estimated 31 million American workers out of the workforce, including many frontline health care workers. Unmitigated transmission and the abandonment of public health measures are subjecting more and more workers to repeat Covid infections, which increases their risk of developing long Covid, rendering them vulnerable to a disabling disease. Nurses and other health care workers especially continue to be exposed to SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 through inadequate workplace and public health protections, which places them and their patients at increased risk of long Covid. More Covid infections mean more debilitating chronic complications and societal disruption due to school absences and missed workdays. This course will discuss the latest scientific updates on long Covid, implications for health inequities, and what nurses can do to advocate for safe patient care.
This will be a two-hour online class via Zoom for two hours of continuing education credits.