ATLANTA, Georgia, May 20, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Elsevier/MC Strategies (http://www.mcstrategies.com/), a pioneer in providing e-learning solutions to more than 1,300 healthcare organizations, has partnered with the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) to develop a series of online nursing courses. Today, AACN and Elsevier/MC Strategies announced the first course in this series: AACN Critical Care Pharmacology.

Critical Care Pharmacology will provide significant benefits to bedside clinicians and educators, said Justine Medina, RN, MSN, AACN Director of Professional Practice and Programs. Patient safety is paramount to ensure the best outcome for critically ill patients. Critical Care Pharmacology breaks new ground in online clinical education by integrating an interdisciplinary framework to provide the requisite knowledge to support safe administration of medications in the highly complex environment of critical care.

Developed with expert consultation from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses in collaboration with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the interactive, online course will help prepare nurses to safely administer drugs specific to critical care patients. Users of the eight-lesson product can take advantage of continuing nursing education contact hours offered through AACN and will engage and learn through four key features, including Ask the Pharmacist, Safety Alert, Myth vs. Fact and What's the Evidence? Presented in a case study format that utilizes cutting-edge animations, Elsevier/MC Strategies designed the course to encourage critical thinking skills with a real world critical-care patient and clearly illustrate complicated concepts.

Ensuring safe care of critically-ill patients receiving high-alert drugs has long been a challenge, said Cindy Tryniszewski, RN, MSN Executive Director, Clinical e-Learning, Elsevier/MC Strategies. Working alongside AACN and ASHP, we have delivered a high-quality product that provides nurses with superior continuing education on how drugs work, why drugs cause adverse effects, and what the implications are for patient care.

Among current challenges facing healthcare organizations is the effort to provide safe, competent and quality care to critically ill patients to ensure optimal outcomes. Critical Care Pharmacology effectively meets this challenge, not only by offering in-depth education concerning medication safety, best practices, and evidence-based interventions, but by complying with The Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals. A soon to be released white paper from Elsevier/MC Strategies highlighting this topic is titled Education Options for Staff Development: Using a Blended Learning Approach to Teach Critical Care Pharmacology. This white paper highlights issues surrounding quality patient care as a direct result of best practices in drug administration.

Additionally, Elsevier offers a collection of four powerful online reference tools for nurses and allied health professionals. The Mosby's Nursing Suite provides complete solutions to nursing staff, and includes Mosby Nursing Skills, an online skills and procedures index; Mosby Nursing Consult, a comprehensive online resource for nurses; and Mosby's Index, a nursing and allied health journal abstracts and indexing database. Mosby's eLearning promotes safe, quality, and accurate patient care through high-quality, online continuing education.

Further information about Critical Care Pharmacology, future courses within the series and the AACN-Elsevier/MC Strategies partnership can be obtained during the National Teaching Institute and Critical Care Exposition, May 15-20, in Washington, D.C.

About Elsevier/MC Strategies

Elsevier/MC Strategies provides organizational development, online learning and clinical reference solutions to the healthcare industry. Since 1986, Elsevier/MC Strategies has had one objective - to advance healthcare by bringing the highest quality professional education, clinical information and organizational development tools to healthcare. Today over 1,500 organizations are using our Learning Management System ( http://www.mcstrategies.com/LMS/index.htm ) for the training and development of 2.5 million nurses, financial managers, HIM professionals, medical coders, and other healthcare professionals. Our trusted brands include Mosby's Nursing Suite, Mosby's Imaging Suite and Educode, and we partner with leading healthcare associations to develop market-leading knowledge development solutions that promote competency and confidence in front line clinical, revenue cycle and coding staff.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet (http://www.thelancet.com) and Cell (http://www.cell.com), and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com), Scopus (http://www.scopus.com), Reaxys (http://www.reaxys.com), MD Consult (http://www.mdconsult.com) and Nursing Consult (http://www.nursingconsult.com), which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite (http://www.scival.com) and MEDai's Pinpoint Review (http://www.medai.com), which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com) employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC (http://www.reedelsevier.com), a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

About AACN

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, the world's largest specialty nursing organization, has been serving the needs of nurses caring for acutely- and critically-ill patients since 1969. Representing the interests of more than 500,000 nurses, AACN is dedicated to creating a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families, where acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. AACN defines acute and critical care nursing as the specialty within nursing that deals with human responses to life-threatening health problems.

The purpose of AACN is to promote the health and welfare of patients experiencing acute and critical illness or injury by advancing the art and science of acute and critical care nursing and promoting environments that facilitate comprehensive professional nursing practice. Through its activities, the association seeks to

- Provide leadership and leadership development within acute and critical care nursing. - Demonstrate responsiveness to issues and concerns raised by members or other interested parties. - Promote means to enhance affiliation and support networks for members and colleagues. - Operate effectively and efficiently with respect to human and financial resources. - Provide value and quality in all programs, activities, and products.

About ASHP

ASHP is a 35,000-member national professional association that represents pharmacists who practice in hospitals, health maintenance organizations, long-term care facilities, home care, and other components of health care systems. ASHP is the only national organization of hospital and health-system pharmacists and has a long history of improving medication use and enhancing patient safety.

Tom Reller Vice President, Global Corporate Relations, Elsevier +1-215-239-3508 T.Reller@Elsevier.com

SOURCE: Elsevier/MC Strategies and AACN and Elsevier

CONTACT: Tom Reller, Vice President, Global Corporate Relations, Elsevier,+1-215-239-3508, T.Reller@Elsevier.com