Humor & Health Courses for Nurses

The following two courses were set up in the fall of 2009. They are up to date in terms of research relating to humor and health. The contact hours earned are 9.6 for course one and 13 for course two.

For additional courses for nurses, go to www.corexcel.com.
Both of these courses were designed by Paul McGhee, PhD.

Their content was extracted from my 2010 book, Humor: The Lighter Path to Resilience and Health ($17.95 at www.AuthorHouse.com and $21.95 at Barnes & Nobel & other major bookstores). Note: The book is available now at the publisher’s website, but may not be in bookstores for a couple of months.

Paul McGhee
Humor and Nursing I:
Impact of Humor and Laughter on Physical Health
(9.6 Contact Hours)
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To earn contact hours for this course, read the course content online or in the downloadable PDF and complete the online examination and course evaluation. After passing the test and completing the evaluation, you will be able to print your certificate instantly.

The price of this course is $49.00. You will only be asked to pay for the course if you decide to grade the Post Examination to earn a certificate with Contact Hours.

Learning Objectives

After completion of Humor and Nursing I the participant will be able to:
1. Identify specific general mechanisms through which humor contributes to physical health and wellness.
2. Identify specific disease conditions for which humor and laughter have been found to support improved health.
3. Identify specific components of the immune system known to be strengthened as a result of humor/laughter.
4. List possible causes for the reduction of pain resulting from humor/laughter.
5. Discuss the impact of negative emotion upon heart health.
6. Discuss the ways in which humor/laughter contribute to heart health.

Course Outline
Part I. General Influence of Humor on Physical Health
I. Muscle relaxation
II. Reduction of stress hormones
III. Strengthening of the immune system
A. Immunoglobulin A
B. Natural killer cells
C. Other immunoenhancement effects
D. Increased free radical scavenging capacity
E. Duration of humor-induced immunoenhancement
F. Sense of humor and immunity
G. The role of mood
H. Which is more important, laughter or the experience of humor?
I. Immunotherapy
IV. Pain reduction
A. Humor and experimentally-induced pain
B. Humor and chronic pain
C. Using humor to ease painful medical procedures with children
D. What causes the pain reduction associated with humor and laughter?
1. Mental distraction
2. Release of endorphins?
3. Muscle relaxation
4. Activation of pleasure centers in the brain
5. Lower blood pressure

Part II. Impact of Humor and Laughter on Specific Disease Conditions
I. Heart disease
A. Impact of negative emotion
1. Damage to the inner lining of arteries resulting from negative emotion starts you down the path to CHD
B. Impact of positive emotion (excluding humor)
1. Preventing heart disease
2. Facilitating recovery from heart disease
C. Impact of humor
1. Preventing heart disease
2. Facilitating recovery from heart disease
D. How does humor promote cardiac health?
1. By reducing stress-linked cardiovascular reactivity
2. By supporting a healthy inner lining of arteries
3. By pulling you out of a negative mood and substituting a positive mood in its place
II. Cancer
III. Pulmonary health
IV. COPD
V. Asthma
VI. Allergies
VII. Diabetes
A. Impact of humor and laughter upon gene expression
VIII. Why it feels so good: Humor activates pleasure centers in the brain
IX. Does humor increase longevity?

Humor and Nursing II:
Using Humor to Cope with the Challenges of Nursing
(13.0 Contact Hours)
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To earn contact hours for this course, read the course content online or in the downloadable PDF and complete the online examination and course evaluation. After passing the test and completing the evaluation, you will be able to print your certificate instantly.

The price of this course is $65.00. You will only be asked to pay for the course if you decide to grade the Post Examination to earn a certificate with Contact Hours.

Learning Objectives

After completion of Humor and Nursing II the participant will be able to:
1. Describe current trends in the “humor-in-hospital” movement.
2. Discuss issues related to the use of humor with patients in healthcare settings.
3. Describe the types of humor-in-hospital programs currently being adopted.
4. Discuss the impact of both humor and non-humor interventions in hospitals on patient outcomes.
5. Discuss the current state of research concerning humor’s effectiveness as a tool in coping with stress.
6. Understand how keeping your sense of humor on the job helps you provide quality care to patients – even in the midst of stress.
7. Explain how humor helps cope with stress.
8. Discuss numerous cautions and concerns about the use of humor in healthcare settings.
9. Identify the steps and actions required to begin improving your own humor skills in order to learn to use humor to cope with job stress and provide quality care.

Course Outline

Part I. The Humor-in-Hospitals Movement
I. Using humor to promote positive doctor/nurse-patient interaction
II. Types of hospital humor programs
III. Impact of programs on patient outcomes
A. Humor programs
1. Using humor to promote hope and a positive outlook
B. Other types of mind-body programs
Part II: Humor and Mental Health: Using Humor to Cope with Stress
I. Experimental research
II. Studies of people who have a good sense of humor
A. Experimentally-induced stress
B. Stress in current real-life situations
C. Studies not considering current level of life stress
D. A key distinction: positive (adaptive) vs. negative (maladaptive) humor
III. Hospital humor
IV. Using humor to cope with cancer
V. Humor in emergency and disaster situations
VI. How humor helps you cope and boosts the quality of your care
A. Muscle relaxation
B. Emotional release
C. The law of psychological gravity
D. Increased energy / reduced burnout
E. Maintenance of perspective
F. Substitution of a positive mood for a negative one
G. Increased sense of control
VII. Humor as a source of resilience
Part III: Learning to Use Humor to Cope: A Humor Skills Training Program
Take the sense of humor pre-test before starting the program
Step 1: Discover the nature of your own unique sense of humor
Step 2: Cultivate a playful attitude and a sense of fun – overcome terminal seriousness
Step 3: Laugh more often and more heartily
Step 4: Practice telling jokes and stories
Step 5: Create your own verbal humor: Begin playing with language
Step 6: Finding humor in everyday life
Step 7: Learning to laugh at yourself
Step 8: Find humor in the midst of stress: Using humor to cope