A new self-paced, online educational series offered by Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston is designed to help nurse practitioners and physician assistants succeed on the American College of Cardiology^® Certified Cardiovascular Knowledge Examination (CCKE).

“Hospitals offer rich clinical learning environments for advanced practice providers interested in growing their careers in cardiovascular care, but they often don’t have access to the curriculum to support those experiences,” said Jessica Coviello, DNP, ANP-BC, FAAN, associate dean of faculty development and the Patricia L. Starck/PARTNERS Endowed Professor in Nursing. “Our new continuing professional development series fills those gaps as nurse practitioners and physician assistants prepare for the certification exam.”

Cizik School of Nursing’s first-of-its-kind Cardiovascular Advanced Practice Series provides didactic instruction to support in-person clinical fellowships and training. The information in this series is presented in accordance with the 2020 cardiovascular advanced provider knowledge competencies defined by the ACC and American Heart Association.

Part 1 of the series is now available in Canvas Catalog and provides a comprehensive overview of cardiovascular care. All 11 courses can be purchased together for $2,100, or they can be taken individually for $250 apiece. Each course provides three contact hours of nursing continuing professional development. Course descriptions and registration links are available in the continuing professional development section of the Cizik School of Nursing website.

The forthcoming Part 2 will consist of 10, two-hour courses that provide in-depth information about specialty areas such as heart failure, congenital heart disease in adults, and cardio-oncology. Watch for details to come.

The ACC launched the CCKE exam in November 2023 and offers the test to advanced practice providers twice a year.

Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.