CEU Academy

What it is

CEU Academy is an online continuing education library for people who work in senior care and the professions around it: nursing home and personal care home administrators, activity directors, nurses, social workers, case managers, addiction counselors, HR staff and home care attendants. Its About page says it is "Powered by Collins Learning" and provides "the same great compliance training and continuing education for senior care professionals." It was "Launched in the summer of 2018" to better meet the needs of individual healthcare professionals, while delivering content "on all the latest trends in senior care and regulatory requirements in health care." The site's own description widens the audience a little further, naming physical and occupational therapists and speech pathologists alongside the core senior care roles. The footer carries the Collins Learning copyright and a link to an About Collins Learning page.

The home page sums up the model with the line "It's Like Netflix ® for Healthcare Professionals": a subscriber pays once a year for the library of their profession and works through as many courses as they need. It promises "a Fast, Fun, & Easy Way to... Complete Your CEUs Online," and it reports the scale so far: "We've Helped Healthcare Professionals complete 756,657 CEUs Online."

The founder

The About page introduces the founder, Jim Collins, Ph.D. His career began in college classrooms and moved into senior care; teaching gerontology, sociology, anthropology and psychology led him to provide training, education and motivation to senior care companies, hospice, home health care and hospitals "for more than two decades." The page adds that he writes, publishes, consults and provides continuing education live and online. A testimonial on the home page from a learner named Randie praises the value, "You get much needed information and a lot of learning for the money," and names Dr. Collins himself as the main draw of the site, for his knowledge and for his presentations.

Professions and approvals

The site organizes its library by profession first. The professions menu lists Nursing Home Administrators CEUs, Social Work CEUs, Nursing CEUs, NCCAP Approved CEUs, Personal Care Home Administrators CEUs, Case Management CEUs, Addiction Counselor CEUs, Human Resources CEUs and the Choices Home Care Program. The free CEU signup form adds chaplains to that list, so they can sign up for the free course as well.

The home page pairs two of these professions with an approving body. Its nursing home administrator banner reads "Online, Easy & Affordable NAB Approved CEUs," and its activity director banner reads "Online, Easy & Affordable NCCAP Approved CEUs." The footer lists a wider set of approval labels: NAB Approved CEUs, NCCAP Certified CEUs, PCHA CEUs, CCMC Approved CEUs, AAHCPAD Approved CEUs and HRCI Approved CEUs, alongside CEUs for social workers and nurses and a link for Choices Home Care Attendants. The site describes itself as offering accredited online continuing education, and the free nursing CEU page calls the nursing library "Accredited Nursing CEUs." For the details behind each label, the home page links to a separate Accreditation Information page, which is the place a learner checks before relying on a course for a license.

Topics

The second way into the library is by topic, and the topics show the senior care focus clearly. The site says it keeps "up with the latest trends and compliance regulations in senior care" and invites learners to "Browse our diverse course offerings required by state and the Federal government." The topic list covers:

• Resident care: ADLs and IADLs, incontinence, nutrition and hydration, falls and accident prevention, person-centered care, resident rights, and abuse and neglect
• Clinical practice: infection control, infectious diseases, medication administration, hospice, and three nursing tracks titled The Basics, Beyond the Basics, and Nursing and Clinical Pathways
• Cognition and behavior: memory care and dementia, neurodegenerative disorders, behavior management, mental health, substance abuse and gerontology
• Compliance and safety: healthcare compliance, HIPAA, emergency preparedness, active shooter, human trafficking and ethics
• Workplace skills: communication skills, cultural competence, customer service and hospitality, employee wellness, leadership, professional development and social work supervision

That mix serves several roles inside one building. An administrator can pick up leadership and compliance hours, an activity director dementia and person-centered care, a social worker supervision and ethics, and an HR professional employee wellness and cultural competence. The home page promises courses "specific to your role and responsibilities," and the topic list is where that shows.

How the courses work

Courses run online and at the learner's pace. The site says learners can complete courses "anywhere, anytime on any device and at your own pace," and calls the format "easy, online CEUs" that can be taken on the go. The content, it says, "is developed by highly qualified healthcare professionals and features engaging videos from Emmy Award winning producers." Video is the core of the format, and the founder's own presentations are part of what learners describe.

Certificates come straight away. The home page promises "Get certificates immediately for print or download," and adds that learners can "Track and access your certificates with your CEU Academy account from anywhere at anytime." That stored record is useful when a license renewal calls for proof of completed hours, since the certificates stay in the account rather than in an inbox.

Prices

The subscribe page sells "CEU Academy Annual Subscriptions" under the heading "Unlimited CEUs for Healthcare Professionals," with one price per profession:

• Activity Professionals, $89.00
• Addiction Specialists & Drug and Alcohol Counselors, $89.00
• Nursing Home Administrators, $159.00
• Certified Case Managers, $89.00
• HR Professionals, $89.00
• Nurses, $35.00
• Personal Care Home Administrators, $159.00
• Social Workers, $75.00

Each price buys the annual subscription for that profession, and the page heading frames it as unlimited CEUs, so the cost does not climb with the number of hours a learner needs in a year.

Before paying, anyone can take one course free. The free CEU pages say "We're so confident you'll love our online CEUs that we'd like to offer you one absolutely FREE," and add "No credit card required, no commitment, no catch." The signup asks only for an email address and a profession, and the home page offers a free CEU for each of the main audiences: a free NAB CEU, a free social work CEU, a free NCCAP CEU and a free nursing CEU.

Support

The header and footer give a support phone number, 855.238.2655, and an email address, and there is a Contact Us page under About. Collins Learning's own page is linked from the same footer for anyone who wants to know more about the company behind the library.

Who it suits and who it does not

CEU Academy suits people in long-term and senior care who need a steady stream of approved hours each year: nursing home and personal care home administrators, activity directors, social workers and nurses in care settings, and the HR and case management staff around them. The annual subscription is inexpensive, with nurses paying $35 and social workers $75, and the free first CEU lets anyone test the format before committing. The video production and the founder's long experience in senior care give the courses a consistent voice.

The narrow focus is the main limit. The topics revolve around older adults, care facilities and their regulations, so a hospital specialist or a nurse outside long-term care will find less that fits. Administrators pay the most, at $159 a year. And because the approval labels differ by profession, a buyer should read the Accreditation Information page for their own license before subscribing.