This accredited continuing education symposium introduces the “What is Going on Now” and “What to Do Next” framework, designed to help participants-including nurses, social workers, healthcare administrators, social services directors, and family caregivers-navigate immediate caregiving challenges while planning for sustainable, long-term support.

The program emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration and the shared responsibility of clinical teams, administrative leaders, and family caregivers in creating systems that reduce stress, improve health outcomes, and ensure continuity of care across the lifespan.

Through real-world scenarios, practical tools, and interactive discussion, participants will leave with actionable strategies to bridge short-term needs with long-term planning; empowering families, professionals, and equipping healthcare organizations and leaders to guide care transitions confidently, strengthen resource navigation pathways, and support workforce preparedness.

Target Audience

This accredited continuing education activity is designed for nurses and interprofessional team members, including social workers, healthcare administrators, care coordinators, and informal family caregivers, involved in supporting individuals with complex care needs across the lifespan.

Educational Objectives

At the conclusion of this activity, the participants should be better able to:

• Describe current national and regional trends in caregiving across the lifespan, including emerging needs among hidden or underserved caregiver populations (such as grandparents, youth caregivers, and culturally diverse families), and the implications for care delivery services.
• Explain how meaningful social and community connections reduce caregiver stress and improve long-term health and well-being including the role of healthcare teams and administrators in strengthening these support networks.
• Articulate the roles, challenges, and resource needs of formal caregivers (e.g., nurses, social workers, direct care workers) and informal family caregivers within today’s complex care environment and how leadership, workforce development, and policy can address gaps in support.
• Identify practical strategies and tools that nurses, social workers, healthcare administrators, and care coordination teams can use to normalize respite, encourage its use, and connect families to appropriate supports, including respite services, peer networks, community resources, and long-term services, while aligning these efforts with organizational goals, regulatory requirements, and equity priorities.

Accredited Continuing Education

In support of improving patient care, University of Nebraska Medical Center is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

NURSES/NURSE PRACTITIONERS

TThe University of Nebraska Medical Center designates this activity for 6.25 ANCC contact hours. Nurses should only claim credit for the actual time spent participating in the activity.

As a Jointly Accredited Organization, University of Nebraska Medical Center is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this course receive 6.25 general continuing education credits. The content level of this activity is basic.