The curriculum is approved for 1.1 contact hours of continuing education credit from the Maryland Nurses Association, which is accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center Commission on Accreditation to provide continuing education. This two-session program includes lessons on the following information:

* Understanding SIDS: The lesson defines SIDS, estimates its prevalence, and its possible physiological causes.
* Understanding SIDS Risk: This lesson looks at dangers in the sleep environment that put infants at higher risk of SIDS.

* Reducing SIDS Risk: This lesson presents factors that can reduce the risk of SIDS, such as placing infants on their backs to sleep for naps and at night, and provides risk-reduction recommendations.
* Nurses as Role Models for Parents: The lesson explains research findings related to nurses' importance as role models for parents and as a primary source of health information.
* Challenges to SIDS Risk Reduction: This lesson addresses cultural and societal factors that may affect compliance with SIDS risk-reduction recommendations.
* Communicating about SIDS Risk Reduction: This lesson offers suggestions on how to discuss SIDS with families and provides answers to common questions about SIDS and sleep position.

Nurses can order a hard copy or download an electronic version of the continuing education booklet through the NICHD's Web site, at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/sidsnursesce/, or by calling 1-800-370-2943. The NICHD and its partners are also working to develop an interactive online version of the program, which should be available toward the end of 2007.

The NICHD sponsors research on development, before and after birth; maternal, child, and family health; reproductive biology and population issues; and medical rehabilitation. For more information, visit the Institute's Web site at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) - The Nation's Medical Research Agency - includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.


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