Displaying items by tag: academy

Did you know that you can utilize a guided learning plan for free? As a Heartbeat Affiliate, this complimentary feature is included as part of the benefits of partnering with us. With Academy, you are in charge of your progress and training. Accessing a learning plan is easy!

Step 1. Log in to your Academy Dashboard.

Step 2. Select the button "Enroll in a Learning Plan."

Step 3. Make one or more selections and click, “Save Changes.”

It will automatically save your selections and populate your Dashboard page.

To return to your Dashboard, select “Dashboard” from the top left menu.

Step 4. There will be a new section titled, “Learning Plans” with your selection(s).

Click on a selection to be taken to a catalog of options about your role(s).

On this page, you can view all the available competencies we have about the role you selected. Select “Edit” to find the course linked to each competency. The progress bar towards the top will show you how many you’ve already received out of the number available.

In just four simple steps, you can begin a Learning Plan designed just for you. Whether you are in leadership, development, client care, or medical, we have training and resources for you.

TIP: Keep this page bookmarked for future staff and volunteers of your pregnancy help organization!

One in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage and one in four women in the US will have an abortion by the age of 45. Although these losses occur very differently, the grief experience is similar and affects men, women, family members and friends. The Institute of Reproductive Grief Care's course for healthcare professionals, clinics, pregnancy centers, universities and social service agencies, can bring hope and healing to hurting people who may be suffering alone.

Objectives/Desired Outcomes:

• Describe the grief experience after reproductive loss.
• Identify three compassionate care practices to facilitate grieving for those impacted by reproductive loss.
• Utilize new communication skills and healing resources.

About the Instructor(s):
The Institute of Reproductive Grief Care® is the global expert in reproductive grief care, offering education, research, expertise and support after pregnancy and reproductive loss. With the stated goal of encouraging the widespread adoption of a reproductive grief standard of care, they provide education and resources to healthcare professionals including hospitals, medical professionals, therapists, social workers and pregnancy centers, as well as community and faith leaders.

 Next Session: February 15  (11 AM - 2 PM EDT)

Have you ever wondered what science says about human sexuality? It turns out, biology, chemistry, health sciences, and more support God's plan for our sexuality in humans.

Designed specifically for centers working with a high number of clients in the 18-24 age group, this course will walk through how to work with clients who have been indoctrinated through gender ideology to believe that it is natural for them to be promiscuous. Nothing could be further from the truth and this course is designed to equip your staff with the scientific-based knowledge that will allow them to teach these women the truth that for humans, sexual wellness equals sexual integrity.

Your registration for this class includes a complimentary electronic edition of Dr. Malone's book: Battles of the Sexes. Additionally, by the end of this training, you will earn enough CEU's to apply for or renew your Life Affirming Specialist Designation.

 To participate, you must meet the following requirements:

• Have reliable access to a computer with an internet connection and the ability to download and print documents for additional reading.
• Be able to devote three to four hours per week to the live course session and homework assignments.
• Be self-motivated and comfortable completing additional reading assignments, activities, and tests on your own.

Please note, this session includes a live weekly session Wednesday's at 4 PM EST. Additionally, participants of this training will be able to communicate with the instructors via e-mail.

Next Session: The next session begins October 17, 2022, with our first live session taking place October 19, 2022.

Prevention and Community Outreach for Pregnancy Help Centers

Prevention and community outreach can be key components of the overall work of pregnancy help centers. Reaching schools, churches, and community groups with educational programs that promote biblical truth and optimal health helps “make abortion unwanted today and unthinkable for future generations.”

Whether your center has a prevention outreach already in place or you are just considering starting a program, this class will equip participants in planning, implementing, and evaluating an effective prevention and community outreach program. Additionally, by the end of this training, you will earn enough CEU's to apply for or renew your Life Affirming Specialist Designation.

To participate, you must meet the following requirements:

• Have reliable access to a computer with an internet connection and the ability to download and print documents for additional reading.
• Be able to devote three to four hours per week to the live course session and homework assignments.
• Be self-motivated and comfortable completing additional reading assignments, activities, and tests on your own.

Please note, this session includes a live weekly session Wednesdays at 12 PM EST. Additionally, participants of this training will be able to communicate with the instructors via e-mail.

Next Session: The next session begins with our first live session on May 15!

This five week apologetics class will give you the tools you need to answer and defend your pro-life position compellingly, compassionately, and with love.

Together as a class, each week we will walk through a chapter of Stephanie Gray's, Love Unleashes Life, review supplemental material, and participate in exercises and discussion applying the chapter specifically to our role in Pregnancy Help Organizations. You'll also have the opportunity to join Stephanie Gray for a live Q&A session on January 27th at 1 PM EST.

 If you're looking to build your confidence in discussing abortion or sharing your pro-life position, this class is for you.

Cost: $59.95 (or $49.95 for affiliates!) A copy of the book LOVE Unleashes Life is required for this course and will need to be purchased separately. You can find the book here.  

Next Session: The next session of LOVE Unleashes Life is January 10 - February 13

Our brand new course on development, Advancement Boot Camp, will give you an overview of the Ten Revenue Streams every Pregnancy Help Organization needs—and provide you with tips and ideas to launch or improve on each one.

Whether you are just getting started in Development, or looking for ways to reboot and revive your development plan, join Kirk Walden for this conversational video series to help your ministry soar in challenging times.

Watch the video above to get a sneak peek of what to expect in the course!

Course opens October 1st!

Next Training: April 23-25 | Salt Lake City, UT

While there are various ultrasound trainings available for nurses and sonographers who work within the pregnancy help movement, Heartbeat International has championed a new form of training that connects the technical needs and the spiritual needs for those working in pregnancy help. The training is held in two parts: First, students complete an online ultrasound training* through Heartbeat International’s Academy which meets the Association of Women's Health Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) guidelines for didactic training, as well as completing 25 OB prerequisite scans** to prepare for the in-person training. Next, students come on-site to participate in an in-person scan lab experience with one-on-one instruction from educators that are also sonographers credentialed in RDMS (OB/GYN) and RNs that have multiple years' experience imaging in Pregnancy Help Clinics.

By combining the technical, the practical, and the spiritual elements into one pregnancy help medical training, trainees will work towards becoming equipped, qualified, and ready to scan within their center. (Looking for training for other Pregnancy Help staff? Click here!)

This Clinical will include:

• 50+ Scanning Drills
• Pregnant models of all gestations
• Unique Love Approach Method of imaging the preborn babies
• Competency scanning pathology typically encountered in Limited Obstetric Diagnostic Ultrasound
• First simulation training offered nationally in the Pregnancy Help movement-
  • Transvaginal instruction on simulation models
  • Mastering of skills by scanning a simulated ectopic pregnancy
• Image Reviews
• Spiritually focused instructional approach
• Case Studies
• How to introduce a mom to her baby for the very first time
• Skills Evaluations for those completing training
• Supportive team to reinforce your calling

*Heartbeat International will offer 20 Continuing Education Contact Hours for nurses for the didactic portion of training and 10 Continuing Education Contact Hours for nurses for the clinical portion of training. Heartbeat International is an approved provider through the California Board of Nursing, Provider Number 16061.

The focus of the clinical event is on repetition and volume, along with spiritual encouragement and reinforcement of techniques and knowledge gained from the didactic training. The ideal participant is someone who is self-motivated, confident and is in need of a high volume of scans for training. This event is fast-paced and filled with drills, techniques and one-on-one instruction from educators that are also sonographers credentialed in RDMS (OB/GYN) and RNs that have multiple years' experience imaging in Pregnancy Help Clinics. Each participant receives a skill evaluation by our instructors, however, Heartbeat International does not certify nor credential any medical professional. Final determination of when a nurse can scan in a clinic is made by individual Medical Directors.

Pricing

The LOVE Approach Ultrasound Clinical includes 20 hours of didactic training (20 CEUs) and 20 hours of clinical training (10 CEUs). 

*Completion of Heartbeat's Online Ultrasound Didactic Training is a prerequisite to the LOVE Approach Ultrasound Clinical and is included in the cost of the training.

**Nurses attending the LOVE Approach Ultrasound Clinical have found many ways to obtain the prerequisite of 25 OB scans. Here are a few ways to fulfill this requirement.

• Scan with another clinic. Here is a locator to find nearby pregnancy help organizations. 
• Offer a scanning day to scan clients who have been scanned previously with a sonographer or a trained nurse. 
• Scan some women who are not pregnant (such as coworkers or friends) to image female anatomy and to become acquainted with the function of an ultrasound system.
• Contact a local OB office for possible assistance with training scans. 

by Dawn Lunsford, Associate Director of Academy

Heartbeat Academy is celebrating an important milestone, as more than 3,000 students from around the world attended and completed training online in May, 2016 alone.

Although this number of students is certainly cause to celebrate, what we celebrate goes beyond these 3,000 students as we look to the ripple effect ongoing training and continuing education has on the pregnancy help movement worldwide.

Heartbeat International originally launched our Academy in 2011 to make training on key manuals and dynamic speakers just a click away, empowering pregnancy help organizations right where you are, in whatever issue or situation you are facing, with on-demand training.

The software and technology that power Heartbeat Academy provide plenty of numbers to identify, study, and celebrate.

We celebrate as students rack up hundreds of training hours each month, thousands a year. We celebrate each hour of credit toward the Life Affirming Specialist designation earned. But what brings us true joy, true cause to rejoice, is when we hear about the effect ongoing training has had on our students themselves and the organizations with which they are involved.

The most important thing students learn in the Academy is not in a course, but is in realizing the profound effect ongoing training can have on staff—not to mention clients, organizations and communities.

I can’t help but smile at God’s planning when learning that a center with a successful Abortion Pill Reversal story first heard about the procedure and the APR network from their volunteer nurse who logged on because she needed the contact hour credit a year and a half ago.

Or, at the director who took a course on the Commitment of Care and Competence in case it would be good for a new staff member who had some downtime, only to find the content she needed for her next in-service.

Heartbeat Academy is positioned to equip you to have moments like these with the click of a mouse.

In addition to the pivotal information available in an on demand format, in 2013 Heartbeat Academy launched its first live hybrid course, ConCERT: Consultant Continuing Education Renewal and Training. ConCERT is an opportunity for staff and volunteers to train directly under Heartbeat staff.

The most common remark from students who have finished the course is, "This wasn't completely new information, but now I can see how it works in the big picture." Our students grow in confidence, skill, and understanding bringing all of that back to their organization and their community.

It’s not uncommon to speak to these students months or years later and hear how the course not only helped them grow professionally by earning the Life Affirming Specialist designation, but helped their organization as well. Our ConCERT training does so much to help leaders grow in essential areas like increasing their reach through media coverage, expanding services, and building partnerships with other organizations. 

So, while we wait and see what ripple effects we’ll see from the 3,000 students working in the Academy this past month, we rejoice at the opportunity to serve and invest in you. Whether by helping affiliated centers train volunteers through a private course, offering credit for nurses, or tackling current events with a dynamic webinar, the Academy is just one way Heartbeat is committed to coming alongside and continuing to help equip and empower pregnancy help organizations around the world.

Join over 3,000 students by choosing a class from the Heartbeat Academy today!

By Connie Ambrecht RDMS, CMB

It was very exciting when your Pregnancy Resource Center (PRC) changed to a Pregnancy Medical Clinic (PMC). I am certain you can recall the enthusiastic atmosphere that filled the center as you reached your goal of changing from having a focus on material assistance to focusing on being able to answer the question; “Am I pregnant?” through medical imaging. Providing confirmation of pregnancy was finally a goal actualized!

Looking back at the steps that were taken, everyone on the team participated in training that was a necessary component to adding medical services. From the Board of Directors, the Executive Director and the Clinic or Nurse Manager, every aspect of the PRC was educated about the change. Our team at Sonography Now participated in the change at over 500 PRC to PMC transitions and our responsibility to you remains. Our role as an education company is to keep ourselves educated and pass that along to you. Our team attends approximately 6-8 conferences per year to keep abreast of trends that impact your clinical setting.

For many of you, that initial investment in getting to know what was needed for a PRC to become a PMC was the start and the finish to your education as it relates to being a clinic. Let’s review what is necessary for the medical personnel in particular to remain strong for the PMC. Then let’s consider: What does each member of the team need to do to remain strong for the PMC we serve?

For those such as NARAL Pro-Choice America who would like to see our doors close, they state things like: “CPCs are a growing threat to women's health. They often lie to women about abortion and birth control. They'll do anything to scare a woman away from choosing legal abortion.” They consider this a challenge to address.

We don’t believe there is a need to feel a panic in addressing such accusations, instead we feel it is wiser to be methodical about how you keep your entire organization educated. We want you to be empowered to discuss how and why you stay strong. In considering a methodical approach to your team’s education, there are a few things to ask… Who needs to be educated? How would we get such education? Where do we get the funding? Where can we go? Do we have to go anywhere? Who decides who needs what? There are so many legitimate things to consider.

This article is to assist you in building a plan for continuing education as it relates to your team, as well as providing talking points to aid in community relations.

As we begin, I’d like to outline a few facts: you provide medical services, sonography and maybe SDI testing, so that’s what makes you a clinic…embrace it. As a clinic, the public has certain expectations…be aware of those expectations. With those expectations comes the responsibility to provide your medical services at a level that meets standards as established by professional organizations.

Do you have an awareness of who those organizations are? Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), American Nurses Association (ANA), and the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (SDMS)? Each of these organizations has guidelines and/or recommendations for continuing education. Let’s look at each one, create a talking point and build a plan to implement.

• According to AWHONN, the RN who performs sonography “should demonstrate educational and clinical expertise in obstetrics….”

• In the new Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements, the ANA clearly states in Provision 5 that “the nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, to maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth.” Provision 7 states that “the nurse participates in the advancement of the profession through contributions to practice, education, administration, and knowledge development.”

• The SDMS clearly requires all sonographers, registered or unregistered, under Section II, to “maintain continued competence through lifelong learning, which includes continuing education, acquisition of specialty specific credentials and re-credentialing.”

If you take the three professional organizations above and build a talking point you might be ready to state; “As a clinic we find it is a priority to maintain competency, build skills and knowledge, because we value keeping up with medical standards.”

Your approach to building an education plan will vary from clinic to clinic. Annual Conferences such as the Heartbeat International Conference can build your medical team as well as others who attend. As education organizations, Sonography Now and Equip Leaders Now are committed to maintaining a large library of courses for the Pregnancy Medical Clinic that can grow your entire team. We recognize the importance of keeping up on trends, building the team's knowledge base and providing quality care and focus on that aspect of your services.

To quote Maya Angelou, “If we know better we do better”. We know you need continuing education in order to do better. Our obligation to you is to stay informed and pass it along. We look forward to serving you this year in regards to your education needs.

Connie Ambrecht RDMS CMB and her husband Dan founded Sonography Now in 2002. Connie has been published in professional journals, has spoken at national conferences. Sonography Now has provided training to physicians, nurses, physicians assistants, nurse practitioners, midwives, radiologic technologists, as well as cross-training other sonography specialists.

"I had no idea what to expect. I have never taken a course online before and from the experience of this one, would definitely do it again... It was wonderful to share with so many like-minded individuals who live their faith each day and see God's hand at work. I was uplifted by this experience."
- ConCERT Graduate

ConCERT is an advanced, eight-week distance learning course created by Heartbeat International. ConCERT is appropriate for any individual currently involved in a pregnancy help ministry who wants to gain confidence and take their current skills and knowledge to an even higher level. The next session of ConCERT will cover consulting considerations, fertility, conception, fetal development, sexual integrity, contraception, sexually transmitted diseases, abortion risks, and much more. By the end of this training, you will earn enough CEUs to apply for or renew your Life Affirming Specialist Designation.

 To participate, you must meet the following requirements:

• Have reliable access to a computer with an internet connection.
• Be able to devote three to five hours per week to the training.
• Be self-motivated and comfortable participating in online discussions, completing reading assignments, and weekly activities on your own.

Please note, participants of this training will be able to communicate with the instructors via e-mail and phone. A downloadable student manual is also provided to help students prepare for assessments.

Next Session: The next session of ConCERT begins February 5, 2024.