For professionals: Online education and training

My heart, my life e-learning

This course is intended to improve the knowledge and confidence of nurses and other health professionals to effectively support patients and their families with heart failure.  

The course contains 11 chapters and has information on: 

• Types of heart failure and diagnosis 
• Treatments including medications 
• Lifestyle considerations 
• Associated medical conditions and palliation.  

Practice points are included to help guide health professionals to critical information. There are also tips on how to explain this complex condition.  

The course supports the use of the Heart Foundation heart failure patient resources.  

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Clinical case study for pharmacists  

Learn how you can support two different patients with heart failure who present to your community pharmacy. 

Learning outcomes:

• Identify common symptoms and signs where heart failure may be suspected and refer patients to their GP to facilitate early diagnosis.
• Explain the different management approaches for heart failure with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF) and heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (HFpEF).
• Describe the use of guideline-recommended medicines to reduce hospitalisations and improve survival for patients with HFrEF.
• Identify and recommend deprescribing medicines which can worsen heart failure.
• Describe how pharmacists can improve outcomes for patients with heart failure through patient education and referral to support services as needed.

This free course is accredited by the Australian Pharmacy Council for 1 hour of Group 2 CPD.

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This course includes six modules to support nurses and other health professionals to educate their cardiac patients on heart health.  

The modules provide evidence-based clinical information and tips to help you have conversations with patients about the key things they need to know before leaving the hospital after an acute coronary syndrome admission. 

It can be used in conjunction with the My heart, my life patient resource. 

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This course provides training for health professionals in the acute and primary health care sectors on how to identify Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients in accordance with standard practice.  

The course aims to:  

• Increase understanding of the importance, responsibilities and reasons for identifying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  
• Improve knowledge, skills and confidence to identify Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and record identification data in line with standard practice.  

This course was developed in line with the National Safety and Quality in Health Services Standards (second edition) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards for general practice (fifth edition).  

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This course from the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) is based on the Guidelines for the management of absolute cardiovascular disease risk.   

It summarises the key recommendations, explores the concept of risk factors versus absolute risk and builds confidence in using the online absolute cardiovascular disease risk calculator.  

You will also find information about the Heart Foundation programs and resources to support assessment and management and inspire practice changes to improve systematic assessment and management of your patients. 

The course if free for all health professionals.  

RHDAustralia and the Heart Foundation provide courses on all aspects of the prevention, diagnosis and management of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. 

The suite of self-paced accredited courses includes:  

• Recognising ARF   
• Michael’s Story   
• Introduction to ARF and RHD   
• Women and Girls with RHD   
• Administering Bicillin   
• Prevention of ARF and RHD   
• RHD for Community Based Workers