Denver / Colorado / United States
The owners of Pfiedler Enterprises began their journey in continuing medical and nursing education thirty years ago. Judith I. Pfister, RN, BSN, MBA and Julia A. Kneedler, RN, MS, EdD worked in direct patient care early in their professional careers and were inspired to do more for their peers in nursing and their colleagues in medicine by providing tools, skills and knowledge to meet the challenges of the ever-changing, high tech age of medicine. This early commitment to improving patient care led to an interest in developing and implementing continuing education. Pfiedler Enterprises has its roots in Education Design, a continuing education company founded in 1981 to meet the learning needs of surgeons and perioperative nurses. With the advent of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, Judith and Julia built strategic relationships with surgeon experts to develop needed education and skills training for general and gastrointestinal surgeons. Nurses and other operating room professionals required the education and skills to support the surgeon in this revolutionary new approach, and hence education was developed for this audience as well. As the decade of the 1990s progressed into the 21st century, minimally invasive surgical ( MIS ) procedures blossomed in many specialties as it became evident that MIS offered dramatic patient benefits. Fueled by an active and aging population, advancements in hip and knee reconstruction demanded ongoing education for orthopedic surgeons to improve care options. Innovations in less invasive surgery in all specialties was a motivational factor in designing courses to prepare surgeons for the challenges of the next decade. In addition to surgeons this presented a learning curve for nurses and surgical technologists who are involved in the procedures and must be prepared to use new equipment properly and provide for the safety of patients and staff. After considerable growth, the assets of Education Design were sold in 1996 to the Association of Operating Room Nurses ( AORN ). Judy and Julia continued to manage the company until 2000, when the company was sold to HealthStream. By 2002, they became consultants. As they desired to pursue the development of continuing education on their own once more, they formed Pfiedler Enterprises. Julia and Judy have earned accreditation status for almost the entire thirty years they have been in the business of designing and implementing continuing education. The following organizations have awarded accreditation status to our programs: Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education ( ACCME ), American Nurses Credentialing Commission ( ANCC ), American Council on Pharmaceutical Education ( ACPE ), American Society of Radiologic Technologists ( ASRT ), Association of Surgical Technologists ( AST ), International Association of Healthcare Central Service Materials Management ( IAHCSMM ) and the California Board of Registered Nursing. The owners of Pfiedler Enterprises, along with their Advisory Committees, are committed to improving the quality of patient care by identifying and narrowing gaps between current and optimal clinical performance through education. T he green in Pfiedler has serendipitously come to represent our commitment to efforts to preserve the environment through green conscious choices. When possible, we choose media and processes that recycle and decrease the demand for resources. We strive to select vendors who have publically declared green efforts. Our certificates are available online and course materials may include a CD/USB drive rather than a large paper notebook. Our conference locations include international hotel chains that have their own green initiatives.
