Enduring Material

• Apply foundational knowledge of adoption history and contemporary practices to provide informed, compassionate, non-judgmental care to patients considering adoption.
• Distinguish between closed, semi-open, and open adoptions to accurately explain options and document patient preferences in care plans.
• Identify the services provided by licensed adoption agencies and explain the difference between agency and private adoption when making referrals.
• Evaluate support systems, assess for coercion, and ensure informed consent throughout the decision-making process.
• Recognize when and how to engage social workers and adoption professionals, understanding their role in assessments, communication, and coordination.
• Recognize the characteristics of last-minute adoptions and provide appropriate immediate support.
• Implement immediate nursing interventions, including emotional support, privacy, and prompt notification of the charge nurse and social worker.
• Articulate birth parent rights and options, and support flexible hospital planning with clear communication of preferences.
• Advocate for hospital plan preferences during handoffs and shift changes.
• Obtain informed consent for newborn procedures and coordinate discharge timing, recognizing that birth mothers retain decision-making authority.
• Recognize professional scope of practice boundaries and coordinate effectively with adoption agencies, legal professionals, and hospital colleagues.
• Document adoption-related information appropriately while maintaining HIPPA compliance.
• Serve as primary liaison to facilitate communication, coordinate discharge planning, and ensuring legal notifications.

• The University of Kansas Medical Center designates this activity for a maximum of 1.5 ANCC contact hours. Nurses should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
• Social Workers: The University of Kansas Medical Center Area Health Education Center East, as an approved provider of continuing education by the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board presents this offering for a maximum of 1.5 hour(s)credit applicable for relicensure of LASWs, LBSWs, LMSWs and LSCSWs. Kansas Provider Number 12-002. Mary Susan Kircher, MSW, LSCSW, Coordinator.
• The University of Kansas Medical Center designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.5 Attendance w/ No Credit.

Learning about the adoption journey, although richly rewarding, is often overlooked. By completing this course, you're not only setting yourself apart by demonstrating a commitment to deepening your understanding, but also by demonstrating a commitment to deepening your understanding. By being here, you set yourself apart from other professionals in your field, as you’ll have the best skill set and mindset to support birth mothers and adoptive families. The adoption process can be complex, but with your active effort, you're on your way to understanding it fully.

Each video inside this program is designed to enhance your understanding of the inner workings and processes of adoption. While each video addresses a specific aspect of adoption in the hospital setting, when you put them together, you’ll see the whole picture, understand your role as a healthcare provider, and support the expectant birth mother in each type of adoption. Mastering the adoption process comes with dedication, as you've shown by being here. You will find that much of the course content is directed toward hospital social workers, since they are usually responsible for ensuring that an adoption is handled ethically and legally while the mother is in the hospital. If you are a nurse, doctor, or another healthcare provider who works with mother and baby, don’t worry —you will find the training applicable to you as well.

Steffany Aye, LSCSW, LCSW has no financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients to disclose.

Nikki Cooper, BBA, Karen Aufdemberge, RN, and Steffany Aye, LSCSW, LCSW have no financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients to disclose.

75 %

100 %

3/16/2026