Continuing Nursing Education FAQs
- What is ContinuingNursing Education or CNE?
- Who Can Provide Continuing Nursing Education?
- How Do I get My Individual Activity Approved to Award Contact Hours?
- What Are the Fees?
- What is the Process for Review?
- How Do I Use the Forms and Applications in the CNE Section?
- Must the Presenter/Author Be a Registered Nurse?
- When a speaker cancels at the last minute may we substitute another presenter, even if the required documents are not in hand?
- What’s in a Name? The Organization’s Name
- Is the Title of an Activity Important? Keys to Writing Title for CNE Activities
- What is a Learning Outcome?
- What is Joint Providing and How is it Done?
- Are “Electronic Signatures” Allowed on CNE Documents?
- May Previously Developed Content (“canned programs”)Be Incorporated into CNE Activities and, Thus, Award Contact Hours?
- What Are the Criteria for Offering Poster Sessions During a CNE Activity?
- So You Want to Be a CNE Approved Provider? Timeline for success.
- What Are Some Keys to Writing Narratives for the Approved Provider Application?
- What is the Difference Between Joint Providing and Commercial Support?
- How Do I Calculate Contact Hours?
- How Do I Calculate Contact Hours for Pre-Work or “Blended Education”?
- How to Calculate Contact Hours for Pharmacoptherapeutics?
- Can Contact Hours Be Awarded for ACLS or BLS Courses?
- Who can be part of the Target Audience?
- An Organization or an Outside Agency has asked us to Approve their Program for Contact Hours?
- When is the Annual Report Due?
What is Continuing Nursing Education or CNE?
As defined by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Commission on Accreditation, continuing nursing education is defined as “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 the end of improving the health of the public and RNs pursuit of their professional goals.” CNE is “designed to improve the professional practice of nursing and to positively impact patient, system, and/or patient outcomes.”
The purpose of continuing education is to ensure that nurses stay abreast of current industry practices, enhance their professional competence, learn about new technology and treatment regimens, and update their clinical skills. According to the Louisiana State Board of Nursing (BON), the following areas are acceptable subject matter to fulfill continuing education requirements for relicensure in Louisiana:
1.nursing practice topics related to counseling, teaching, or care of clients in any setting;
2.sciences upon which nursing practice, nursing education, and nursing research are based, e.g., nursing theories; biological, physical, and behavioral sciences; and advanced nursing in general or specialty areas;
3.professional, social, economic, spiritual, and ethical/legal aspects of nursing; and
4.nursing management, nursing administration, or nursing education.
Registered nurses working full time in the State of Louisiana are required to acquire 5 contact hours (not CEUs) annually for relicensure. The acquisition of the contact hours must coincide with the nurse’s license renewal. Contact hours are based on the 60-minute hour.
In 2013 the Commission on Accreditation released a directive indicating that the 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 COA states they "believe 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."
They go on to indicate that "Requirements for planning educational activities have not changed. 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 must be followed."
Who Can Provide Continuing Nursing Education?
Providers of continuing nursing education (CNE) can be individuals or organizations that present education activities that meet the definition of and criteria for CNE. The Louisiana State Nurses Association is an accredited approver of CNE through the accreditation process of the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Whether or not an individual activity or an organization/individual is recognized through LSNA as an Approved Provider is determined by processes defined by the ANCC.
Approval of an individual activity requires the submission of an application that goes through the review process and is then approved to award contact hours. Applications are submitted 60 days prior to the date of the first presentation.
Approved Provider status requires that a minimum of three (3) individual activities have been planned and presented within the preceding 12 months prior to submission of an application for Approved Provider status. The three (3) activities must meet the criteria established by the ANCC/LSNA. Applications for Approved Provider status must be received by the first of March, July and November during a calendar year.
Eligibility Requirements: Based on the ANCC “2015 ANCC Primary Accreditation Approver Application Manual” (2015), the following criteria continue in effect:
Approved Provider Units: The following two (2) types of organizations are ineligible for approval as an Approved Provider:
- Commercial Interests: A commercial interest is any entity producing, marketing, reselling, or distributing healthcare goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients or is owned or controlled by an entity producing, marketing, reselling, or distributing healthcare goods or services consumed by, or used on patients. (This does not include hospitals, hospices, healthcare clinics or others who care directly for patients.)
- Multi-Regional Providers: An organization that targeted/marketed greater than 50% of their education activities provided during the previous calendar year to Registered Nurses in multiple regions based on the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) regional map. TNA falls within region 6.
If you have questions regarding your eligibility status, please contact us.
How Do I Get My Individual Activity Approved to Award Contact Hours?
Approval of an activity requires electronic submission of the appropriate application form with the appropriate review fee at least 60 days in advance of the desired date of first presentation of the activity. An Individual Education Activity may be delivered live or via an enduring format. When the application is received, several items are considered before it is sent out for review:
An application cannot be submitted after an activity has been presented. ANCC/LSNA do not approve contact hours retroactively.
Whether the applicant meets eligibility criteria.
Whether the activity meets the Louisiana State Board of Nursing definition of and criteria for continuing nursing education.
Whether or not the application was submitted in a timely manner.
Whether or not the appropriate review fee enclosed was based on the contact hours requested on the title page.
Whether or not there is a signature for the “Statement of Understanding.”
Whether or not the Nurse Planner has a bachelor’s degree (or higher) in nursing and a valid,current, unencumbered RN license.
Whether or not the Conflict of Interest forms have been signed, dated, and countersigned by the Nurse Planner.
Whether or not the application includes an activity-specific certificate of successful completion, evaluation form, sample of the proposed promotional materials, and sample disclosure tool.
If the application meets these criteria, it is then sent out for review. The application is assigned to two Nurse Peer Reviewers.
The Nurse Peer Reviewers reviews the activity application. They are reviewing to ensure that the activity meets ANCC/LSNA criteria and standards; good, sound educational design principles; and the definition and criteria the LSBN has established for continuing nursing education. Once the Nurse Peer Reviewers have reviewed the application, they send their recommendation to the Nurse Peer Review Leader (NPRL) who will contact the identified Nurse Planner for the activity regarding any revisions that need to be made to the application to ensure it meets the required 100% of criteria. After all the “i’s” are dotted and the “t’s” are crossed, the Nurse Peer Review Leader will approve the activity. The NPRL will then notify the Nurse Planner.
An Individual Education Activity is approved for two years. During the two-year period, the applicant can present the activity as many times as it wishes, HOWEVER, no changes may be made to the learning outcomes or content or other requirements set forth in the application. You can replace a speaker if needed as long as the Nurse Planner vets the individual.
What Are the Fees?
Fee Payment forms can be found under the link for Individual Education Activities or Approved Provider.
What is the Process for Review?
- RECEIVED: Once an application has been received in the office, CE Coordinator will process and email you the application has been received.
- QUALITATIVE REVEIW: The NPRL will also receive an email with the application and conduct a quantitative review for missing items. IF items are missing, you will receive an email requesting additional documentation and will have three days (IEA) or one week (AP) to submit.
- REVIEWERS: Once the qualitative review has been conducted and missing items are received, the application will be submitted to two Nurse Peer Reviewers for a quantitative review. They have two weeks to complete the review for IEAs and one month for the Approved PU. Each reviewer sends their report to the CE Coordinator and then it is sent on to the NPRL.
- DETERMINATION: The Nurse Peer Review Leader will review the reviewers comments and make a determination whether to approve, defer (requiring revisions), or deny. The applicant will receive an email with the determination and IF additional documentation is needed, you will have one week to send to the CE Coordinator.
The Nurse Peer Review Leader may approve an activity outright, defer the application for further revisions or deny approval of the application. Deferred applications must be corrected within 14 days or risk being denied.
Any further action requires submission of a new application with a new review fee. Applicants with denied applications who wish to re-apply must submit a new application with the appropriate review fee.
How Do I Use the Form and Applications in the CNE Section?
Each application and form was created in a Word application as a fillable document. A fillable document allows you to type directly on the document and enlarge sections as needed. Also, this application allows anyone to change/integrate your own information where necessary. We suggest that you go through the forms and/or applications and put your organizational name in the appropriate locations (Provider Name). In other words, make the forms your own and then download them to your system. To make things easier, choose a naming convention that incorporates the header date so you know if this is the most recent form.
Some of you may wish to change them to other applications and work with them. This is fine. We want you to be able to work and use the forms in the most comfortable format for you and your office.
We do ask that you NOT remove the header information that gives the date the form was created or change the formatting of the document(s). (i.e. you may not put the purpose statement in a different location, etc.) This helps us ensure that you are using a timely form for your work. You may add to the header if you wish but leave the original information alone.
You will notice several “tables” used within this form. When you are working with the form, you can avoid problems with it by doing the following:
Must the Presenter/Author Be a Registered Nurse?
A presenter/author is a person with content expertise in the topic to be presented by virtue of education, experience, expertise, professional achievement, credentials, honors, awards, publications, etc. The presenter/author should be comfortable with the teaching methodologies they are using and should have some level of familiarity with the target audience.
The planning committee should determine whether a proposed presenter/author is a content expert on the topic to be presented based on the individual's education, experience, expertise, professional achievement, credentials, publications, etc. It is also considered best practices that the presenter is familiar with the target audience and is skilled with the teaching strategies chosen to meet the objectives.
The presenter/author is not required to be a Registered Nurse. However, portions of a presentation that address the role of a nurse, nursing practice or specific nursing implications or interventions related to the presented contact/topic do require a nurse (RN) presenter/author. Many qualified presenters can teach nurses, by only a nurse can teach nursing.
What if an employee of XYZ Company wants to present on their updated equipment? They can present – however you could not provide ANCC/LSNA contact hours for that presentation. 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 servicesof the commercial interest organization.
When a Speaker Cancels at The Last Minute May We Substitute Another Presenter, Even If the Required Documents Are Not in Hand?
Yes, as long as the provider has ensured that evaluation of conflict of interest and resolution (if required) have been met and all required disclosures are provided to learners/participants. The presentation objectives and content as determined by the Planning committee must remain the same. The provider would need to communicate the change that occurred with the CE Coordinator as soon as possible
What’s in a Name? The Organization’s Name
Both individual activity applications and the demographic section of the Approved Provider Application request the “organization ‘s name.” The organization name is unique to the applicant.
Once an organization’s name has been listed either on the individual activity’s title page or in the demographics section of an Approved Provider Application that is – verbatim – the organization name that must be used consistently throughout the application. For Approved Providers, the organization name – verbatim – is part of their approval statement that is used in promotional materials and on the certificate of successful completion.
Once established, changes in the organizational name must be reported to the LSNA CE Coordinator so appropriate action(s) can be taken. An organizational chart should be submitted within 30 days of changes being made.
Is the Title of Activity Important? Keys to Writing Titles for CNE Activities
When a Registered Nurse attends a continuing nursing education (CNE) activity, the only tangible “thing” he or she walks away with is their certificate of successful completion. The certificate of successful completion contains a lot of information – the activity’s provider; date of the activity; number of awarded contact hours – and the activity’s title.
When developing a title for a CNE activity:
- Craft it to be reflective of the content of the activity. Obviously, as we are developing CNE activities, the content should be nursing/nursing practice focused based on a Registered Nurse target.
- Take a step outside of your planning committee and ask the question – “if someone from outside our organization read this title with no other supporting documentation would they know that this activity was continuing nursing education?” Perhaps someone in your organization but outside of your activity’s planning committee could review the title and provide feedback.
- Avoid terms like “basic”, “introduction”, “review”, and “fundamentals” in the title. These terms imply lower-level basic content.
- Be wary of “cutsie” titles. It may be catchy and draw attention to your activity, but it still needs to mean something outside of your planning committee and be reflective of both nursing and the activity’s CNE content.
- Spell out abbreviations. Your abbreviations may make sense to you and your planning committee. But, again, look at it from an outside perspective. Even “ACLS” needs to be spelled out – “Advanced Cardiac Life Support.”