Cardiology

AANP Resources by Therapeutic Area

Continuing Education Courses

The AANP CE Center offers a wide variety of continuing education (CE) activities for nurse practitioners (NPs). Members of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP) get more, including access to many free activities and significantly discounted rates on others. The activities are updated frequently, and more than a dozen cardiology-related options are currently available.

Visit the AANP CE Center

JAANP Resource Center

Find evidence-based articles, up-to-date guidelines and other resources about cardiology at this resource center, brought to you by the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (JAANP).

Visit the JAANP Resource Center

NP Tools and Resources

AANP-Developed Resources to Support NPs in Treating Your Patients

• Practice Brief: Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults.
  
• Practice Brief: 2013 AHA/ACC Guideline on Lifestyle Management to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk.
• Practice Brief: AHA/ACC/HRS Guideline for the Management of Patients with Atrial Fibrillation.

Accurate Blood Pressure Measurement

Blood pressure (BP) categories for adults were recently updated in the 2017 Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults. This change means that more patients will be diagnosed with hypertension and require more accurate BP readings in the office or at home. This video addresses the key components necessary for an accurate BP measurement and can be freely shared with your colleagues and staff.

Medications for Type 2 Diabetes

This helpful tool was developed as part of the comprehensive Clinical Advantage Bootcamp: Type 2 Diabetes Management Certificate for Nurse Practitioners CE program. Pharmacologic options for Type 2 diabetes continues to expand. Busy NPs need to stay up to date about the various drug classifications, doses, indications and side effects of the many Type 2 diabetes medications. This is an exciting time for diabetes management with many of the pharmacologic options providing more than one treatment benefit. This all-inclusive resource provides need to know information about non-insulin antihyperglycemic medications, insulin and glucagon.

• Access the Tool.

This tool is supported by independent medical educational grants from Mylan Inc., a Viatris Company, & Novo Nordisk Inc.

The NP’s Guide to Helping Patients Reach Lipid Targets

This practical handout for the NP includes helpful information about the evaluation of patients with lipid abnormalities, risk assessment and treatment decision-making, and strategies for mitigating and managing side effects of statins. Resources are provided for managing the cost of medications.

• Acess the Tool.

Supported by an educational grant from Novartis.

Patient Education Tools and Resources

Type 2 Diabetes and Kidney Health

This practical and informational handout has been created to facilitate shared decision-making conversations between the NP and their patients about type 2 diabetes (T2D) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). The checklist format enables users to easily keep track of information like recent kidney and diabetes lab tests, blood pressure readings, CKD stage and kidney-protective medications. In order to optimize kidney health, an individualized plan of care — incorporating lifestyle changes, treatments and referrals — is included.

• Patient Handout.

This activity is supported by an independent medical educational grant from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company.

AANP Community

Engage, Learn, Network and Progress Practice in Cardiology

The Cardiology Specialty Practice Group (SPG) offers a unique opportunity to interactively collaborate with colleagues who share an interest or clinical expertise in cardiology. As an SPG member, you’ll have access to a cutting-edge, online forum where you can engage in discussions, document sharing and knowledge exchange with fellow NPs. Come learn, share and help progress the development of theory and practice in cardiology.

Join the Cardiology SPG

Cardiology SPG Member Login

External Resources

Conveniently Curated Information From Other Top Sources

There are many resources available for both patients and providers. Some are listed below for your convenience. Inclusion of these links does not imply AANP endorsement.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Resources

• Heart Valve Disease Health Care Team Toolkit.
• Explaining Heart Valve Disease Fact Sheet.
• Know Your Risk and Symptoms for Heart Valve Disease Infographic.
• CDC VitalSigns™: Preventing 1 Million Heart Attacks and Strokes.

Additional Resources

• Evidence-based Guideline for the Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults.
• Know Diabetes by Heart™, a partnership between the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, offers a number of professional resources for health care providers, including mobile apps, journal articles, guidelines, a podcast series and more.
• National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents.
• Maine Medical Center Guideline on Management of Bleeding on Dabigatran.
• Million Hearts®.
• Million Hearts A Snapshot: Blood Pressure in the U.S.
• Prevention of Stroke in Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation.
• U.S. Surgeon General's Call to Action to Control Hypertension.