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Provider Newsletter: March, 2 0 1 2
Greetings!
Greetings
I am Pam Dickerson, and it is my pleasure to introduce myself as the new Director of
Continuing Education for the Montana Nurses Association. I am physically located in Ohio, but
am in regular contact with the MNA Office by email and phone. My responsibilities include
leadership of the Association’s continuing education provider and approver functions,
collaboration with the Council on Continuing Education, and ensuring adherence to
accreditation standards for quality continuing nursing education. You can reach me via
pam@mtnurses.org or 1-406-465-9126. I look forward to meeting you in person at our provider
update sessions later this spring and summer.
Kathy Schaefer is the full-time Continuing Education Specialist for continuing education in the
MNA office. She can be contacted via Kathy@mtnurses.org or 1-406-442-6710. Kathy is your
point of contact for annual reports, provider renewal processes, and other operational issues
related to your provider unit.
This newsletter will be sent to you regularly as a way to share information and keep you up-todate on issues important to you and your provider unit. Please read the newsletter carefully,
because this is where we will provide updates, information about changes, current questions
and issues, and opportunities for dialogue and learning. If you are in a provider unit with
multiple nurse planners, please be sure to circulate the newsletter so everyone is updated. Let
us know if there are specific topics you would like to see addressed in future newsletters.
Value
of Being
An Approved
The The
Value
of Being
An Approved
Provider Provider
Congratulations on your current status as an approved provider of continuing nursing
education! Achieving this status indicates that you value continuing education for your
organization’s nurses and recognize the quality of education that is provided within the
framework of an internationally recognized accreditation program. As an approved provider,
you have the privilege of developing and implementing continuing nursing education learning
activities that are grounded in an evidence-based model supportive of quality education for
adult learners and integrity in the educational design process. The contact hours your learners
receive, on a certificate with your approved provider statement, are evidence of this quality.
Montana Nurses Association is accredited as an approver of continuing nursing education by the
American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
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The structure, resources, and evaluation processes of your provider unit demonstrate your
commitment and leadership as well as your desire to use input from learners and other
stakeholders in strengthening the work you do. Ultimately, the goal of quality continuing
education is to enhance the professional development of registered nurses and contribute to
quality patient care. We are proud to have you on board with us!
Upcoming
Criteria Changes
Upcoming Criteria
Changes
The Montana Nurses Association operates its approver unit under the auspices of the American
Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation (ANCC COA). Accreditation criteria
reflect principles of adult learning and are grounded in two key documents: The Nursing
Professional Development Scope and Standards of Practice (ANA, 2010) and the Code of Ethics
for Nurses with Interpretive Statements (ANA, 2001). Periodically, accreditation criteria are
updated to ensure relevance in a continually changing healthcare environment. The
Accreditation Program has just released the 2013 accreditation criteria. Transition to the new
criteria will be discussed at provider updates later this spring and summer and will be the focus
of in-depth education over the next several months. Implementation date for the new criteria
will be January 1, 2013. We will ensure that you have all of the necessary information to make a
seamless transition.
Outcomes:
ValidatingValidating
Your Worth Your Worth
Outcomes:
One of the key changes in the 2013 criteria is a significantly stronger focus on outcomes. What
measures do you use to justify the work you do in providing continuing education? What
difference do you make to your nurses? How do the learning opportunities you provide impact
quality of care? In today’s world, it is critically important that we are able to provide data to
show that we DO make a difference! Establishing outcomes measures for your provider unit will
give you a place to start in choosing what things you will evaluate to determine your
effectiveness. The way you plan and implement your learning activities and the way you
evaluate your provider unit’s operations will all be impacted by these outcomes measures.
Think about what you do now to evaluate both your activities and your provider unit
operations. What are the things you are proud of? Where are the areas of opportunity? What
data will help you validate your worth? Over the next several months, we will be providing
information and resources to help you develop your outcomes measures and begin to plan for
ways you can integrate these into your provider unit operations. The result will be evidence to
show that your educational efforts enhance the professional development of your nurses and
their ability to provide quality care.
Provider
Update
Sessions:
Your Invitation
Provider
Update
Sessions:
Your Invitation
We look forward to your participation in one of our provider update sessions this spring and
summer. The first one will be at the MNA office in Helena on May 24 th, 2012. The second
session will be in Alaska (location to be determined soon!) on June 18th, 2012. These will be fullMontana Nurses Association is accredited as an approver of continuing nursing education by the
American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
3
day sessions where you will have an opportunity to discuss strategies for efficient and effective
operation of your provider unit, explore the process of transitioning to the new criteria,
develop approaches to setting and measuring outcomes, and share best practices as you
network with colleagues. Detailed registration information will be coming soon, but please put
one of these dates on your calendar now and plan to attend!
Additional
Learning
Resources
Available
Now
Additional
Learning
Resources
Available
Now
I have authored three independent studies designed to help you be more effective in your role
as a nurse planner. The first one addresses the “big picture” view of accreditation and the role
of an approved provider unit, the second describes the role and functions of a primary nurse
planner within the approved provider unit, and the third explores ways of evaluating outcomes
for both your individual activities and your provider unit. These studies are published by the
Ohio Nurses Association and are available for a nominal cost at
http://www.ohnurses.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Earn_Contact_Hours1&Template=/TaggedPage/T
aggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=53&ContentID=7985. You can earn contact hours for each study.
After the provider updates, we will continue to provide you with multiple opportunities for
learning and sharing. However, these studies will give you a good place to get started if you are
new to the nurse planner role or have questions about your responsibilities.
Logistics
Logistics
The Continuing Education section of the MNA web site is being updated with new resources for
approved providers. We will email you when new information is posted, but please check the
web site regularly to be sure you have the latest information. All of the forms and tools you will
need to operationalize the 2013 criteria will be provided there, along with a provider manual
and instructions to make your lives easier!
Your provider unit receives approval from the Council on Continuing Education to operate for
three years. Toward the end of your approval period, you need to submit evidence that the
Council will evaluate in determining your ability to continue to function as an approved
provider. Six months before your provider status is due to expire, Kathy will notify you about
the steps to take and the timeline for submission of required materials. It is important that you
follow this time line to avoid a lapse in your provider status.
Annual reports are required to be submitted to MNA. A template for the data collection portion
of the report is included as an attachment to this newsletter. In addition to the spreadsheet
data, we will be asking additional questions related to your provider unit’s activities throughout
the year. We, in turn, are obligated to provide this information in MNA’s annual report to the
Accreditation program office. There, data are used to determine the extent of continuing
nursing education programming around the world and key factors that are affecting our work.
Submission of annual report data is required. Provider units who do not provide this
Montana Nurses Association is accredited as an approver of continuing nursing education by the
American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
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information within the time frame requested face suspension of their ability to operate as a
provider unit and award contact hours.
Your Turn!
Your Turn
We would love to hear from you. Please contact Kathy or me at any time with questions,
comments, or suggestions. We don’t know what’s on your mind unless you share, and we don’t
know what education, support, and resources you need until you tell us. Please use the contact
information at the beginning or end of this newsletter to contact us at any time. We promise to
respond to you as quickly and thoroughly as possible.
Over the next three to four weeks, I will be calling each of you to talk with your primary nurse
planner about current operations of your provider unit, your goals, your concerns, and your
perceptions about how we can help you best. If Kathy does not have current information about
the name and contact information for the nurse planner in charge of your provider unit, this
would be a good time to give her a call or send an email with this information. I look forward to
talking with you soon and meeting you at Provider Update!
Pam
March 15, 2012
Contact Information
Reminder
Contact Information
Reminder
Pam Dickerson, Director of Continuing Education
pam@mtnurses.org
1-406-465-9126
Kathy Schaefer, CE Specialist
kathy@mtnurses.org
1-406-442-6710
References
American Nurses Association (2001). Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements.
Silver Spring, MD; Nursesbooks.org.
American Nurses Association (2010). Nursing Professional Development Scope and Standards of
Practice. Silver Spring, MD; Nursesbooks.org.
Montana Nurses Association is accredited as an approver of continuing nursing education by the
American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.