Online learning resources

1. eMedicine – This website is a veritable goldmine of news, reference, and, educational content on diseases, drugs, and medical procedures. You can register for free to access all the useful information put up by subject matter experts. This site is a daily must-read for not just nurses but anyone with even a passing interest in the field of medicine.

2. Nursing Center – If you’re a nurse or a nurse in making, you are going to go “Wow” when you check out this site. This is one exhaustive resource of all things that are a part of a nurse’s professional life. Job boards, information on further education, clinical topics, professional topics, a very clever search engine, free e-newsletters, and much more!

3. NP Central – A portal to all things nursing-related with a stated objective of trying to help nurse practitioners meet their professional requirements. The portal leads to an exhaustive state-wise database of nursing organizations, pertinent clinical information, an impressive jobs database, and even an online store that sells all that a nurse practitioner may want to possess.

4. Hahn School of Nursing – A beautiful site that covers a very fundamental niche that all nurse practitioners and nursing students simply must know about – nursing theory. The website is committed to being a continuous work in progress bringing to nurse practitioners the best theories in nursing from all over the world. You can check out teaching tools, discussion forums, and a lot more.

Android Apps

5. Injectable Medicines – As far as handy and useful Android apps go, this one is right up there with the most useful ones that offers practical, implementable help. If you are a nurse administering injections then you can have this add handy. It is also a great tool for nursing students. This is a free application that will inform you on medicines that are compatible for injecting together at the same time.

6. Mini Nurse – The name says it all! This one is indeed a pocket Hercules when it comes to useful information for nurse practitioners and nursing students. This is a great value for money app that will be of immense help in LPN school. Handy reckoner for lab values, medical terms, medical facts, prefixes, suffixes, and more.

7. AHRQ ePSS – This Android application is as profound and weighty as its name suggests. It is an initiative by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) that aims to help nurses identify the screening, counseling, and preventive medication services relevant for their patients. Databases are updated regularly. Information also covers behavioral risk factors for maximum personalized information.

8. Rx Case Minder – A great tool for smooth management of prescription management. As a nurse you have many things on your mind and need to multi-task. This tool takes the stress off having to remember when to give medicine to patients under your care, the dosage and also if you have to order a refill. It’s a good tool for patients too.

Online Libraries

9. Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses – A very useful online library with content in different formats. The library captures and reflects information intended to keep nurses, particularly medical-surgical nurses, at the cutting edge of this vast and complex field. You can check out conferences, audios, video sessions, and notes by eminent practitioners in this field. Network with other members and learn about career and education opportunities.

10. Student-Nurse Information Center – The site functions more like a gateway to all types of useful information that nursing students may want access to. It’s like a one-stop shop for all nursing-related information. You will find links to nursing sites, specialty nursing resources online, nursing journals, schools, newsgroups, educational institutions, useful tools, etc. You want a shortcut to this site on your toolbar. It’s worth having it there.

11. The Free Library – If you love reading doesn’t matter if you’re into nursing or not, this is a swell site. But the kind of content this site holds on all things nursing-related is not to be sneezed at. There are periodicals to keep you up-to-date on the latest and there is a lot of worthy literature too. A great reference site for LPN, RN, and all types of nurses.

12. The WWW Virtual Library – Addictive! That’s the only way to describe this awesome portal. Search what you want to on nursing, health-care, patient care, nursing education, etc. The results will never cease to amaze you with the supply of pertinent information that is thrown up. The library is updated daily and carries information from all over the globe.

Video Games

As they say, all work and no play make Jack a dull boy. And so it is with nurses that have to work hard to stay at the top of their profession. Here is a list of great games that nurses can enjoy to combine work and entertainment.

13. Healthcare Word Game – A cool word game that uses a Java applet. It is based on the popular hangman theme and each match consisting of five games is a real test of your information and needless to say, spelling skills.

14. HumanSim – This simulated environment created by Virtual Heroes is a truly fun way to gain proficiency in otherwise tricky tasks without having to put humans at risk. From patient skills to the latest and most complicated procedures, you can practice a lot in a virtual environment.

15. Interactive Physiology – As the name suggests, this site teaches about the human physiology in a fun and interactive manner. The best part about this game, for nurses, is that they can access this fun site any time and add to their knowledge.

16. Happy Neuron – It combines recreation with some serious brain benefits. A nice distraction for busy nurses that at the same time helps them sharpen faculties they will need to be at the top of things at the workplace.

Who are Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS)?
Practical nurses with an advanced exposure in his or her field and who hold a Master’s or Doctoral Degree in a particular field of his or her specialization is called clinical nurse specialist (CNS). Apart from common nursing practices of care and assisting patients to advance towards betterment of health condition, clinical nursing specialist (CNS) share a greater responsibility with the assigned doctor by involving in diagnosis and treatment with his or her field expertise.

Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Programs
With ongoing demand of expertise in the nursing profession of the country clinical nurse specialist (CNS) programs are becoming extremely crucial in regard to the success in nursing profession and consequently becoming very popular. In USA, clinical nurse specialist (CNS) programs are available through both online and campus based curriculum. As all the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) programs do not guarantee the same professional exposure, it is advisable to read the prospectus of the program carefully prior to applying for admission in any program. A clinical nurse specialist (CNS) program is expected to focus on specialization of any practicing discipline of nursing. Below a short list of possible specializations are given to produce a gross idea of the categories:

1)People-specific or population wise specialization like,
Women’s health, sports medicine and medication, tropical sickness, pediatrics, geriatrics etc.

2)Clinical set-up oriented specialization like,
Intensive care, emergency room, general treatment, surgical unit, pathology, etc.

3)Particular disease disorder oriented specialization like,
Heart Disease, ophthalmology, diabetes, etc.

4) Particular care oriented specialization like,
Physiotherapy, eye-care, nutrition or dietary care, etc.

5 Best clinical nurse specialist (CNS) programs in USA

John Hopkins University
With its diversified focus in various specializations this program is definitely an unmatched one.

University of Washington
It is a widely acknowledged program for academic excellence and multispecialty training.

University of North Carolina
This program is unique because of its state of the art training in different clinical set-up to optimize practicing skills.

University of California
This program is thoroughly focused in making the student competent for many challenges in the areas of evolving medical practices.

University of Minnesota
This program is unique in its meticulousness in orienting the student in one or more specialization to provide an in-depth working experience before the completion of the program.

The learning program or the job of a clinical nurse specialist (CNS), in either of the cases specialization should be the prime focus in learning module or in professional practice and this is the most important thing that should conclude this brief guideline in respect of clinical nurse specialist (CNS) profession and education in USA.