CRNA’s are already busy enough and staying up-to-date with anesthesia CE requirements gets harder each year.
When I find a program that fits my schedule and budget I tend to stick with it. That’s why I love the old adage “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”
So when I heard APEX Anesthesia was no longer offering Clinical Updates, I groaned “Why?”.
What was taking its place? How was it different? Would it be as good?
We take a look at APEX’s new course CRNA Updates and let you know what’s changed, what’s the same and do they still deliver the same highly quality content.
Most importantly how it incorporates into your busy lifestyle.
CRNA Updates Program
Former user’s of Clinical Updates will be very familiar with the overall feel of APEX’s new CRNA CE program. Newcomers will find the website easy to navigate and will quickly be earning credits.
Start by either reading or listening to one of the fifteen lessons offered. The content can be viewed on your phone, tablet or computer with the option to print out the lesson if connectivity is an issue. If you prefer to knock them out while commuting, riding a bike or walking just click the play button and stream the audio. Play time ranges from 33 to 44 minutes.
Next it’s on to taking the post-test to earn your Class A credit. You have three chances to pass the test, but I doubt you’ll need more than one try. The test is open book, so you can open the lesson and post-test in separate windows and flip back and forth as needed. They also offer a “Hint” button at the bottom of the question to help guide you to the correct response.
Once you have completed and passed the post-test, APEX handles the rest and once per week reports the credits for all active AANA members. However if you need them submitted sooner, email Apex and they’ll take care of it right away! One less thing for the busy CRNA to worry about.
Don’t worry if you’re not an active AANA. They give you the chance to print out your credits and submit it to the NBCRNA. So don’t let that be a deterrent from using APEX.
CRNA CE Credits the Easy Way
This is going to sound crazy, but it was actually enjoyable to read the lessons. Departing from the traditional teaching tone most CE programs use, CRNA Updates incorporates a very conversational writing style. It’s like sitting down with your favorite aunt or uncle, listening to them talk about a topic and you leave remembering everything they discussed.
With 15 lessons in CRNA Updates the topics offer a wide variety of educational information for CRNAs that not only keep it interesting, but key to staying on top of our practice. My favorite article was “Zootoxins in Our Pharmacological Toolbox” which looks at how animal venom and toxins play a role in our current and future care of patients. It was absolutely fascinating and the best part was receiving CE credits for something I thoroughly enjoyed.
The post-tests were fair and with the “Hint” button I wasn’t too worried about failing them. But it also goes back to the presentation of the topics and learning experience that allows for retention of the course material and acing the questions.
The course only costs $229, offers 22.5 Class A credits including 7 credits in pharmaceuticals/therapeutics and you have a full year to complete it. As a bonus you are able to keep PDFs of the lessons for review anytime.
What’s in a Name
This new program lives up to the quality you expect from APEX Anesthesia. The upgrades to the content and structure of the course were noticeable, but it still had the familiar feel to Clinical updates.
Which left me curious as to why the name changed. I reached out to Kevin Baker CRNA, Co-Founder of APEX for answers.
Kevin explained, “Although Clinical Updates was well received by our learners, we were driven to iterate on the concept so that we could deliver a more impactful learning experience. After looking at all the improvements, we thought the course deserved a new name. As a CRNA-owned and operated company, we chose a name (CRNA Updates) that would better reflect the population we serve.”
He’s right.
CRNA Updates is well named for keeping the busy CRNA up-to-date on the ever changing practice of anesthesia.
