Ohio Nurses Association
Continuing Education Department
CE Provider Newsletter
August 1, 2013
Zandra Ohri, MA, MS, RN, Director (614-448-1027) zohri@ohnurses.org
Sandy Swearingen, Admin. Assistant (614-448-1030) sswearingen@ohnurses.org
Contents of this Newsletter:
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Category A requirements for Ohio providers
New: Tips for Preparing the Provider Application
ANCC Updates
Category A Requirements
For Ohio-based Provider Units, remember that, if you are presenting a Category A session, the certificate MUST include
the words “Category A.” Five nurses in the past two months have been audited by OBN and did not have these words on
their certificate when it was an Ohio nursing law and rule activity.
Tips for Preparing the Provider Application
A new document has been uploaded to the website that provides additional tips in preparing your provider application.
These tips supplement what is included in Chapter 2 of the Provider Manual. The tips can be found at www.ohnurses.org,
Education, Teach, approved provider section.
Even if your provider application is not due for a while, we really encourage working on the descriptions of the processes
for each component now so that when it comes time for your provider app, you’ll have a good part of the work already
done. We also encourage getting your nurse planners together to discuss how you do things and write up your process
based on that discussion.
ANCC Updates effective 5/1/2013 (Note: This information is also uploaded on the Provider page of website.)
Annually, the Commission on Accreditation (COA) conducts an extensive analysis of the Primary Accreditation criteria
and requirements for Providers and Approvers by evaluating evidence which may include but is not limited to: new or
emerging evidence in the field of continuing education, feedback from stakeholder groups, environmental scanning,
congruence with accrediting body colleagues, clarity of criteria, and quality performance indicators of accredited
organizations.
The Commission on Accreditation is pleased to announce that the following changes may be implemented immediately
for the following accreditation requirements:
Content eligible for awarding ANCC contact hours
The Commission on Accreditation (COA) will permit content that is provided through in-service and/or staff development
activities to be eligible for awarding continuing nursing education (CNE) credit.
The current definition of continuing nursing education (CNE) activities has not been revised. The current definition of
CNE states: “Those learning activities intended to build upon the educational and experiential bases of the professional
RN for the enhancement of practice, education, administration, research, or theory development, to improve the health of
the public and RNs’ pursuit of their professional career goals” (2013 ANCC Primary Accreditation Application Manual
for Providers and Approvers).
The COA believes there are significant learning opportunities for registered nurses that occur during in-service or staff
development activities and therefore these should be eligible for awarding ANCC contact hours. To meet the educational
needs of registered nurses and improve the care delivered to patients or clients, providers of CNE activities must have
flexibility in choosing the format for education that meets the needs of diverse learners practicing in a variety of care
settings. The COA believes that this change will permit providers to be better able to choose content that meets identified
practice gaps based on needs assessment data for their target audiences.
Of note: Requirements for planning educational activities have not changed. Providers (Accredited Providers, Approved
Providers and Individual Educational Activity Providers) must develop educational activities that are designed to address
a gap in knowledge, skills and/or practices for a specific target audience. All educational design criteria for continuing
nursing education activities must be followed.
Ohio Nurses Association, 4000 East Main Street, Columbus, OH 43213 / www.ohnurses.org
Awarding ANCC contact hours for content in “repeat” courses (ACLS, PALS, NRP or similar)
The Commission on Accreditation (COA) will permit awarding of ANCC contact hours for all content in courses that are
repeated on a regular basis for all learners.
The COA believes that learning is reinforced by repeat exposure to educational content, and repeat exposure may be more
likely to result in behavioral change. Learners are accountable for choosing educational activities that meet their learning
needs.
Requirement for non-endorsement disclosure statement
The Commission on Accreditation (COA) has eliminated the requirement for the non-endorsement disclosure statement.
The COA believes that the non-endorsement disclosure statement is no longer relevant. Providers must plan, implement
and provide continuing nursing education (CNE) activities in an unbiased, non-promotional and balanced manner
therefore this disclosure requirement was eliminated.
Use of the ANCC Accreditation statement (or applicable approval statement for Approved Providers and
Individual Activity Applicants)
The Commission on Accreditation (COA) has revised the requirements for use of the ANCC Accreditation statement (or
applicable approval statement for Approved Providers and Individual Activity Applicants).
The ANCC Accreditation statement (or applicable approval statement for Approved Providers and Individual Activity
Applicants) must be provided to learners:
1. prior to the start of every educational activity, and
2. on each certificate of completion.
The ANCC Accreditation statement (or applicable approval statement for Approved Providers and Individual Activity
Applicants) must begin and end on its own line of text.
The COA understands that with multiple methods of delivering information to learners, particularly through electronic
media, it may be difficult to include the ANCC Accreditation statement (or applicable approval statement for Approved
Providers and Individual Activity Applicants) on all communications and marketing materials. Therefore, the COA has
revised the requirements to reflect a more flexible approach, while still ensuring that learners are provided with the
information prior to choosing or participating in an educational activity.
Updated ANCC Content Integrity Standards for Industry Support in Continuing Nursing Educational Activities
The ANCC Accreditation Program has posted an updated version of the ANCC Content Integrity Standards for Industry
Support in Continuing Nursing Educational Activities. These new standards can be found on the Provider page of ONA’s
website.
The updated changes reflect:
1.
Clarification of individuals who may participate in planning, implementing and evaluating educational activities in
relation to conflict of interest. The language that has been added to the ANCC Content Integrity Standards has been
copied below:
2.
A.
Employees of commercial interest organizations are not permitted to serve as planners, speakers, presenters,
authors and/or content reviewers if the content of the educational activity is related to the products or services
of the commercial interest organization.
B.
Employees of commercial interest organizations are permitted to serve as planners, speakers, presenters,
authors and/or content reviewers if the content of the educational activity is NOT related to the products of
the commercial interest organization.
C.
Individuals who have non-employee relationships with commercial interest organizations (see bullet 2 below)
are permitted to serve as planners, speakers, presenters, authors and/or content reviewers as long as the
Provider has implemented a mechanism to identify, resolve and disclose the relationship as outlined in these
standards.
Removal of the words “and a disclaimer that neither the Provider nor ANCC are endorsing the product” under “D”,
“item 2”, “in-kind support”
a.
Removal of the non-endorsement disclosure requirement implemented by the Commission on Accreditation
on 5/1/2013 has resulted in removal of this statement in the ANCC Content Integrity Standards.
Enjoy the remainder of your summer.
Zandra
Ohio Nurses Association, 4000 East Main Street, Columbus, OH 43213 / www.ohnurses.org