All Florida-licensed healthcare professionals are required to earn 2 hours of continuing education on the prevention of medical errors each renewal cycle. The same course may be taken every 2 years to ‘refresh’ knowledge.
Professional Development Resources offers 4 different continuing education courses on the prevention of medical errors, in hopes of providing more targeted and relevant information to licensees.
The first course, Preventing Medical Errors, is a general course any healthcare professional could take to meet the 2-hour requirement. This course is accepted by all Florida licensing boards since Professional Development Resources is approved by several Florida boards (see below). This course addresses the impact of medical errors on today’s healthcare with a focus on root cause analysis, error reduction and prevention, and patient safety. It is intended to satisfy the requirements imposed by the 2001 Florida State Legislature mandating a 2-hour course relating to the prevention of medical errors as part of the licensure and renewal process for health professionals. Course #21-59 | 2024 | 44 pages | 15 posttest questions
Next comes Preventing Medical Errors in Behavioral Health. This course is intended to increase clinicians’ awareness of the types of errors that can occur within mental health practice, how such errors damage clients, and numerous ways they can be prevented. Its emphasis is on areas within mental health practice that carry the potential for “medical” errors. Examples include improper diagnosis, breach of confidentiality, failure to maintain accurate clinical records, failure to comply with mandatory abuse reporting laws, inadequate assessment of potential for violence, and the failure to detect medical conditions presenting as psychiatric disorders (or vice-versa). It includes detailed plans for error reduction and prevention like root cause analysis, habitual attention to patient safety, and ethical and legal guidelines. The course includes numerous cases illustrations to help demonstrate common and not-so-common behavioral health errors and specific practices that can help clinicians become proactive in preventing them. 2010 | 31 pages | 15 posttest questions | Course #20-10B
Then Preventing Medical Errors in Speech-Language Pathology was created with a focus on the specific types of medical errors than can occur in the world of speech and hearing.The intent of this course is to include all of the elements required for an approved medical errors course for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and audiologists, including topics and case examples that will resonate with both novice and seasoned clinicians. It is a required course for Florida licensees and satisfies their biennial requirement. It is intended to be of clinical interest to all SLPs and audiologists who wish to increase their awareness of the ways in which patients can be harmed and the many strategies for anticipating and avoiding such undesirable outcomes. This course addresses the impact of medical errors on today’s health care with a focus on root cause analysis, error reduction and prevention, and patient safety. Multiple scenarios of real and potential errors in the practice of speech-language pathology and audiology across the continuum of practice are included, along with recommended strategies for preventing them. Evidence shows that the most effective error prevention occurs when a partnership exists among care facilities, health care professionals, and the patients they treat. Course #21-61 | 2025 | 52 pages | 15 posttest questions | Mobile-Friendly
Finally, Preventing Medical Errors in Dietetics Practice is a 2-hour online video-based continuing education (CPEU) course recorded at the Annual Symposium of the Florida Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This course addresses the impact of medical errors on today’s healthcare with a focus on root cause analysis, error reduction and prevention, and patient safety in the practice of nutrition and dietetics. Lessons learned from the Covid-19 era, using IPASS at change of shift, the role of malnutrition, legislation updates, real life stories, national healthcare safety trends, reporting of sentinel events, telehealth practice, and caring communication techniques are addressed. This course satisfies the requirements of the Florida State Legislature mandating that “two hours of the required (30) hours per biennium shall relate to prevention of medical errors, including a study of root- cause analysis, error reduction and prevention, and patient safety.” Course #21-62 | 2024 | 111-minute video | 15 posttest questions | Mobile-Friendly
Professional Development Resources, a small Florida nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) organized in 1992, is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Professional Development Resources maintains responsibility for all programs and content. Professional Development Resources is also approved by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC ACEP #5590); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB #1046, ACE Program); the Continuing Education Board of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA #AAUM); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA #3159); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR Prior Approval Program); the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling, Board of Psychology, Office of School Psychology, Board of Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology, Board of Occupational Therapy, and Dietetics and Nutrition Practice Council; the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists (#PSY-0145), State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors (#MHC-0135) and marriage and family therapists (#MFT-0100), and the State Board for Social Workers as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers (#SW-0664); the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors and Marriage & Family Therapists (#193); the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists (#114) and State Board of Social Worker Examiners (#5678); and is CE Broker compliant (#50-1635 – completions are reported next business day, currently reporting for 47 boards). Learn more about us.
Target Audience: Psychologists, School Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapists (MFTs), Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs), Occupational Therapists (OTs), Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs), and Teachers
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