As the recession is causing declining hospital admissions due to fewer elective surgeries, hospital revenues have decreased to a point where executives need to make budget cuts. Some are struggling to keep their doors open and have made the difficult decision to lay off employees and to close beds. If you are more fortunate, continuing education and staff training may be budget cuts that you will experience.

   Whether you are an employed or unemployed nurse, you are accountable for maintaining your own continued competence. If you having trouble with the out of pocket costs for conference registration or travel, you may want to consider some affordable options for continuing education including online articles, webinars, and virtual conferences.

   Most nurses are aware of continuing nursing education articles that are published in journals and magazines; however, many nurses prefer going to conferences because they are auditory or visual learners. Webinars and virtual conferences are good alternatives because they provide either recordings or live broadcasts of educational sessions. These presentions allow participants to hear the speaker and see the slides. In some cases there are videos of the speakers. Virtual conferences provide additional benefits of allowing interaction with other participants and experts. The next Lippincott's Online Expo will be held on March 3, 2010.  It is a great example of a virtual conference, and you can participate for free. I suggest you try it out. For more information click this link: http://www.nursingcenter.com//upload/static/950972/CCExpo_index.html.