Stroke Education Programs

National Stroke Association delivers programs aimed to educate all stroke healthcare professionals in the areas of primary prevention, acute treatment, stroke rehabilitation and the financial and business side of stroke. Education is delivered through activities such as grand rounds, live and archived webinars, Internet Point of Care (iPoc), Stroke Clinical Updates and other online tools and resources.

	Sign up for the Professional Education newsletter to be notified when these programs become available.
	Staff and EMS Education Business and Quality Improvement Webinars Clinical Programs
	Some activities are only available to members of Stroke Center Network (SCN) and/or Professional Society (PS). For membership information and how to join, please contact Pat Riley at priley@stroke.org or 303-754-0935.

Coming Soon

Members Only

Pursuing Perfection in Performance Measurement
Tuesday, June 25, 2013, 1 p.m. EDT.

The faculty will discuss how data can drive care and offer case studies with tips and tools on how performance improvement can make a difference in patient care.

This program is designated for National Stroke Association's Stroke Center Network and Professional Society members only. If you are not a member, contact Linda Kuhrt for more information on our members-only programs.

Current Programs

Staff and EMS Education

	EMS4Stroke provides educational resources on stroke for emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. The program was developed by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), National Stroke Association and Genentech Inc. » Visit www.EMS4Stroke.com to participate in this interactive program.
	The How to Build A Stroke Support Group webinar series instructs healthcare professionals and other interested parties how to start and sustain a stroke support group. The program covers the whys, whats and wheres, plus how to effectively plan and facilitate meetings and activities. The first two webinars are available for viewing; webinar three will be conducted in fall 2012.
	NIHSS Training and Testing is a free online module that provides stroke team and other hospital staff the opportunity to become proficient at administering the NIHSS using the most user-friendly online training and testing system available. » Take this online module now.
	Practical Guidance for Building and Sustaining a Telestroke Network Webinar Series is a non accredited webinar series that discusses the rationale for building a telestroke network, business model strategies, network fundamentals, readying the spoke sites and overcoming challenges.
Stroke Nurse Education Modules are 10 accredited online modules ideal for new and seasoned stroke care professionals. Each module is accredited for 1.5 Continuing Education contact hours. SCN members received significant discounts. Contact your organization’s SCN primary contact for your registration code. » Read more about topics, pricing and member discounts.
Stroke Rehabilitation: A Function-based Approach is designed for physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants. The course consists of six modules, each accredited for 10 contact hours, and is based on Glen Gillen’s textbook of the same name. Stroke Center Network (SCN) members receive one free module. See module descriptions, learning objectives, accreditation information and exclusive discounted rates for members.
	Stroke Rapid Response Online educates emergency medical technicians, paramedics, first responders and dispatchers on their invaluable role in stroke treatment and outcomes. The two-hour module is accredited for 0.2 CEUs. This module is free for SCN members — contact Linda Kuhrt at lkuhrt@stroke.org for information. » Take this online module now.
Test Your Acute Ischemic Stroke Assessment Skills - The AIS Virtual Patient program features 8 interactive patient cases to challenge your knowledge in assessing and managing acute ischemic stroke. In this program, you can: take a patient history and build a virtual chart; perform a neurologic assessment of the patient using an interactive NIHSS calculator; evaluate CT scans to assist in diagnosis; and determine potential treatments for the patient. » Visit www.AISvirtualpatient.com.

Business and Quality Improvement Webinars*

Comprehensive Stroke Centers
Learn about The Joint Commission’s standards for the new Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC) designation in three archived webinars.

The Guidelines for Comprehensive Stroke Centers
Best Practices for Stroke Care
Becoming a Comprehensive Stroke Center

» View one or all three.

These programs are sponsored by an educational grant from Stryker.

The Business of Stroke Webinar Series focuses on critical components related to optimizing clinical and fiscal stroke center performance. The series includes four 60-minute webinars:

Building the Case for a Primary Stroke Center
Stroke Center Profitability: Advanced Administration Issues
Stroke Center Operations and Marketing
Business of Stroke Expert Panel Discussion

» Learn more about the series.

Improving In-Hospital Stroke through QI Interventions provides participants with information on how quality processes have improved in-hospital stroke care metrics and about successful intervention models, tools, and processes that they can apply in their respective situations.

» View this webinar.

National Stroke Awareness Month 2012 informational webinar is a guide to National Stroke Association’s available resources to increase stroke awareness. Learn how to successfully reach fellow staff members and your community with innovative stroke education and how to market your stroke program. Also, hear examples of how hospitals have successfully engaged in community stroke education.

» View this webinar.

*Programs are not accredited.

Clinical Programs

	Acute Stroke Treatment: Missed Opportunities (2013) Gain better knowledge of the key features that reliably distinguish stroke from stroke mimics and allow brief but more focused and assured assessment, thus speeding eligible patients on their way to appropriate treatment. This program features accredited grand round activities, live webinars, Internet Point of Care (IPoC) and an update to the Acute Stroke web resource area. » Grand Rounds » Internet Point of Care (IPoC) » Resource Center
	Acute Stroke Treatment: New Evidence and Opportunities^†(2009) includes current evidence-based acute ischemic stroke treatment strategies, how to apply the latest guidelines to practice and improve patient outcomes and access resources to help participants implement changes to acute stroke care practice and processes. » Watch the webinar now. » Read the Stroke Clinical Update, a print monograph, on this topic.
	Controversies in Stroke Care is an accredited series of three webinars designed to provide various perspectives on controversial issues surrounding stroke treatment and rehabilitation. Redefining Exclusion/Inclusion Criteria for IV tPA Use View this archived webinar, accredited until July 31, 2013. Rehabilitation for Stroke Patients View this archived webinar, accredited until Jan. 23, 2014 Acute Interventions View this archived webinar, accredited until March 14, 2014
	Improving Your Stroke Prevention Efforts was originally presented as a satellite event at ISC 2012, this webinar reports on atrial fibrillation (AF) being a possible cause for some cryptogenic strokes. The presentation highlights new ways to detect AF using case studies and discussions of the Crystal AF study with Reveal^®XT. This webinar is not accredited. » Watch the webinar now.
Intervening to Prevent Recurrent Stroke Ask the Experts is a previously recorded Q&A session between healthcare professionals and experts on recurrent stroke prevention and patient education. » Watch this non-accredited webinar.
	Managing Atrial Fibrillation to Prevent Stroke is a comprehensive educational initiative jointly sponsored with Heart Rhythm Society. The program includes accredited grand rounds, Ask-the-Expert sessions, webinars and Internet Point of Care (IPoC) activities as well as an extensive online Resource Center to educate healthcare professionals on proper diagnosis and management of atrial fibrillation (AF) to reduce a patient’s risk of stroke. Activities will be added below as they become available. Ask the Experts Grand Rounds Resource Center Virtual Grand Rounds
	Post-stroke Spasticity Diagnosis and Management–A Case-based CME Initiative (2013) This activity builds on the 2010-2011 program by providing case studies offering practical education and guidance in managing difficult and complex patients to enhance expertise in diagnosis and management.
	Post-Stroke Spasticity: An Update on Diagnosis and Treatment Research (2011) is a non-accredited program that educates the professional spasticity management team on the latest evidence related to accurate assessment of spasticity with appropriate treatment. » Watch this non-accredited webinar now. Post-Stroke Spasticity Ask the Experts captures a previously recorded clinical Q&A regarding spasticity with rehabilitation specialists. » Watch this non-accredited webinar.
Prevalence, Diagnosis and Treatment of Pseudobulbar Affect in Stroke Diagnosis of pseudobulbar affect (PBA) can be difficult and relies on careful characterization of episodes and differentiation from depression. This program aims to educate healthcare professionals on PBA and why it occurs, current tools used to properly diagnosis the condition, communication with patients and current treatment options. An accredited Stroke Clinical Update will be available summer 2013.
Preventing Recurrent Stroke: Targets for Managing Risk^† presents statistics regarding incidence of recurrent stroke and describe the financial and social burden of stroke within the United States. Learn practice targets to significantly reduce stroke risk through guidelines-based clinical practice and strategies to improve patient adherence. » Watch the webinar now. » Read the Stroke Clinical Update, a print monograph, on this topic. ^†Note that updated guidelines and treatment may have become available since recording. Accreditation has expired.