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Penn State Expands Professional Development Program for School Nurses, Now in its Seventh Year

Posted on: Monday, 9 March 2009, 14:52 CDT

Summer courses are available in condensed format at 15 locations statewide and online to help these professionals gain new knowledge and improve skills

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., March 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- School nurses in Pennsylvania now have even more options to receive valuable training with Penn State's Professional Development Program for School Nurses. Penn State continues to develop new courses for the program, to include timely, relevant topics, such as healthy lifestyles for children and adolescents, drug abuse prevention, new medications, and helping students deal with a crisis. Now with 15 locations across the state and online course options, the program also offers school nurses more places than ever to participate.

Program courses are offered each summer and are delivered in condensed formats -- designed to minimize impact on summer vacation plans. Participants can earn up to 6 credits within a two-week period. Courses can be taken this summer at the following Penn State campuses: Altoona, Beaver, Berks, DuBois, Fayette, Great Valley, Greater Allegheny, Harrisburg, Hershey, Lehigh Valley, New Kensington, University Park, Wilkes-Barre and Worthington Scranton; as well as in Williamsport and online.

The following courses are being offered this summer: Drugs of Abuse and Mental Health Issues; Emergency Care and Safety; Compassionate Counseling for Children and Adolescents Dealing with Dying, Death, and Other Life Crises; Physical Assessment; Pharmacologic Therapy; Perspectives in Population-Based Health; Theoretical Foundations of Nursing; Promoting Healthy Lifestyles for the School-Age Population; School Health and Emergency Care of Children and Adolescents; Legal and Professional Issues in School Nursing; and a new 1-credit course Medication Update and Health Teaching Interventions for School Nurses.

The Professional Development Program for School Nurses can help satisfy Act 48 requirements, and some courses also may be applicable toward a bachelor's degree, master's degree or other Penn State School of Nursing programs. Registered Nurses may also use these courses to satisfy new Act 58 requirements.

The Professional Development Program for School Nurses is supported by Penn State's School of Nursing and the office of Continuing and Professional Education. More information can be found at http://www.outreach.psu.edu/cape/SchoolNurse online.

Penn State Continuing and Professional Education (CAPE) delivers professional development and continuing education programs to adult learners at locations across Pennsylvania. CAPE uses Penn State's network of 24 campuses and the University's academic colleges to offer degrees and programs for adult learners in a wide range of fields, including business, education, engineering/technology, health, and justice/government. For information, visit http://www.outreach.psu.edu/cape/ online. Penn State Continuing and Professional Education is part of Penn State Outreach, the largest unified outreach organization in American higher education. Penn State Outreach serves more than 5 million people each year, delivering more than 2,000 programs to people in all 67 Pennsylvania counties, all 50 states and 80 countries worldwide.

SOURCE Penn State University Office of Outreach

Source: PR Newswire

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