No matter what career stage you’re in, AWHONN has an education course for you.  

As the recognized leader in fetal heart monitoring and obstetric patient safety education, AWHONN’s in-person and online formats are convenient, evidence-based and the essential tools for educating the entire team. 97% of students who participated in AWHONN’s Fetal Heart Monitoring Program stated it would improve their ability to care for patients.

AWHONN MN Section has several excellent AWHONN Instructors on our Leadership Team! Looking to advance your career? Questions about local opportunities? Contact any of the following: Shawn Meyer, Intermediate Fetal Monitoring Instructor; Melissa Heath, Advanced Fetal Monitoring Instructor; Stephanie Powell, Intermediate Fetal Monitoring Instructor; Stephanie DeLeon, Intermediate/Advanced Fetal Monitoring Course Coordinator; Melissa Bruns, Obstetric Patient Safety Instructor and Intermediate/Advanced Fetal Monitoring Course Coordinator; or Stephanie Forslund, Intermediate Fetal Monitoring Instructor.

Course Options & Descriptions

OB Emergencies Workshop
This workshop is designed to disseminate best practices for various obstetric emergencies. Through active simulation and debriefing, this Workshop helps clinicians working in any clinical setting to identify, assess, and manage the care for patients with an obstetric emergency. 

Introduction to Fetal Heart Monitoring: An AWHONN and Relias Collaboration
Discover the fundamentals of fetal heart monitoring through our collaborative online program. Reviewed and Recognized by AWHONN as a Valued Education Resource. Explore interactive modules covering crucial topics such as maternal-fetal oxygenation, fetal heart rate auscultation, contraction palpation, electronic monitoring instrumentation, tracing analysis and interpretation, as well as principles of documentation, communication, and risk management. Engage with periodic exercises and knowledge checks to solidify your understanding.

Intermediate Fetal Heart Monitoring Course
This course addresses principles of fetal heart monitoring and may be used as a knowledge assessment tool to validate comprehension of experienced perinatal clinicians. This course includes lecture, hands-on skill stations including performing Leopold maneuvers, placement of an intrauterine pressure catheter and fetal spiral electrode, interpretation of fetal monitoring tracings using a case-based approach, identification of physiologically based clinical interventions, and communication and risk management principles.  Online prerequisite education is required prior to attending the one-day course. Successful completion of the online knowledge validation test is required to receive nursing contact hours/CME for the course. This course can be used to support preparation for certification examinations.

Advanced Fetal Heart Monitoring Course
The Advanced Fetal Heart Monitoring course expands on knowledge and physiological principals presented in the AWHONN Intermediate Fetal Monitoring Course. This course uses a case study approach to focusing on the analysis of maternal-fetal physiology related to complex clinical information and fetal heart rate tracings. The course emphasizes the physiology of fetal-maternal oxygenation, interpretation of tracings, the selection of clinical interventions, and perinatal risk-management principles. An optional knowledge integration test in available.

Intermediate Instructor Workshop
This workshop is taught by AWHONN approved Instructor Trainers. The workshop prepares participants to teach the Intermediate Course. Content includes principles and application of adult learning theory as applicable for teaching the Intermediate Fetal Monitoring Course such as: integration of principles of adult learning into the didactic and skills course components, incorporate appropriate teaching methods and strategies during the lecture, demonstrate entry-level proficiency in teaching and guiding participants during the skill stations, and demonstrate knowledge of the assigned components of the course during the micro-teach. Information about the administrative and operational aspects of FHM are presented. This course is the initial step for individuals who wish to become approved AWHONN FHM Program Instructors.

What is Project ECHO?
Project ECHO® (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) developed at the University of New Mexico, is a lifelong learning and guided practice model that revolutionizes medical education and exponentially increases workforce capacity to provide best-practice specialty care and reduce health disparities. The heart of the ECHO model™ is its hub-and-spoke knowledge-sharing networks, led by expert teams who use multi-point videoconferencing to conduct virtual clinics with community providers. In this way, primary care doctors, nurses, and other clinicians learn to provide excellent specialty care to patients in their own communities.

Hennepin Health

• Integrated Opioid and Addiction Care
• Minnesota Community Collaboration on Viral Hepatitis
• Perinatal Substance Use
• Race Equity and Opioid Use
• Minnesota Geriatrics
• Integrative Pain Care
• Trauma Informed Care and Health Equity
• Community Health Workers
• Peer Recovery Specialists

MN Perinatal Quality Collaborative

• Hypertension in Pregnancy and Postpartum Period Initiative

Wayside Recovery Center

• Wayside Women Services (WWS) Project