There are plenty of free nursing CEUs available if you want to earn continuing education units. Because Nursing is a continuously evolving career, continuing education for nurses is considered important in refreshing one’s skills and knowledge. If you need to get these units but don’t have the budget, you can find free programs online.
Why Are Nursing CEUs Important?
Earning continuing education units as you work in your nursing career is important because of the following reasons:
- License Renewal – Obtaining continuing education units is required before license renewal. The number of units required varies in each state. Most states require 20 to 30 CEU contact hours before a nurse can apply for renewal of license. You can get a list of CE requirements for nurses per state here.
- Broaden your Knowledge and Skills – Although the practical reason for getting CEUs is to renew one’s license, the primary reason for them is to broaden a nurse’s knowledge and skill. You can learn a lot of important points from nursing continuing education programs that will benefit the career path you are taking.
- Be Updated with Latest Nursing Innovations – Nursing care evolves as fast as medical management updates. Continuing education programs bridge the gap between the standards you learned while at Nursing school and the newly innovated nursing care practices nowadays. CEUs serve as your connection to updated quality nursing care standards even after you graduate from school.
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Where Can You Find Free Nursing CEUs?
You can obtain CEUs through various paid courses. However, if your money is tight and you need to complete as many CEUs as you can within a short period of time, you can find free courses through the following:
- Hospital Training Programs – Some hospitals offer opportunities to earn nursing CEUs to their staff nurses. They usually do this through regular staff meetings and in-hospital training. This is one of the things you should consider in applying for a hospital.
- Pharmaceutical/Medical Equipment Companies – Some pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies offer opportunities for nurses to earn CEUs when they are marketing their products. By just attending their seminars about how their products work, you can earn contact hours for your CE requirement.
- Nursing Organizations/Societies – Nursing organizations take part as well in helping fellow nurses earn CEUs by sponsoring symposiums and lectures that will give them one CEU for every attendance they make.
Also Read: 8 Things You Need To Know About Online Nursing Programs
Where to Get Nursing CEUs for Free
To help you get started in earning contact hours for your continuing education requirement, the following are links where you can get free nursing CEU programs online:
Nursing Career
- Workplace Violence Prevention for Nurses
- Navigating Nursing: How to Create the Change You Want
- Ahead of the Curve: The Diagnostic & Therapeutic Challenge
- Cheapnursingceus.com
Reproductive Health
- Self-Study STD Modules for Clinicians – Gonorrhea
- Self-Study STD Modules for Clinicians – Genital Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection
- Self-Study STD Modules for Clinicians – Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)
- Adolescent Sexual Health Webinar Series: Contraception Counseling: Quick Start, Emergency Contraception, & Oral Contraceptive Pills (Web on Demand)
Respiratory Health
- Coughing up the Facts on Pertussis — Emerging Trends and Vaccine Recommendations
TB 101 for Health Care Workers - Core Curriculum on Tuberculosis: What the Clinician Should Know
Diabetes
Pain Management
Also Read: Are You Ready For An Online Nursing Program?
More Websites Offering Pools of Nursing CEUs for Free
Do you need more? Here are more websites offering lots of nursing CEUs for free:
Abbott Nutrition Health Institution
The Abbott Nutrition Health Institute has its own online learning center for professionals who want to earn continuing education units via online courses. For nurses, 1 to 2 contact hours are offered for each course. Topics vary greatly but the common focus of courses is based on providing the right nutrition to different groups of patients.
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has a useful Vaccine Education Center for healthcare professionals. This center hosts different webinars regularly and you can get continuing education units by viewing the archived courses.
Nurse.com has lots of nurse CE courses and prices vary depending on how much contact hours you will earn on each course. However, you can get as many CE courses as you want if you will register for their unlimited CE subscriber account. This is a good deal if you are planning to complete many contact hours for your CE requirement.
If you are already a member of American Nurses Association or ANA, you can enjoy their free CE courses offered exclusively to ANA members. You can also get discounts to paid CE courses as prices are ranged more expensively for non-members.
Medscape Nursing hosts many CE courses for nurses but you will need to register to have free access to their nursing CE programs. Registration is also free and most courses offered provide 1 contact hour upon completion.
With the above list of free nursing CEUs online, you can now start earning continuing education units. Just take time in enjoying these courses to learn a lot of new lessons and to avoid the feeling of pressure in earning CE units purposively.
About the Author: Je Abarra is a nurse by profession and a freelance writer by passion. She is working as a staff nurse in the pediatric ward of a private city hospital for more than two years. During her free time, she usually writes about her fascinations in health and nursing. She loves to provide tips and fun facts about nursing and healthy living.
