Montana Nurses Association
Provider Newsletter August 2015
Congratulations!
Sandra Adams, MD, MS, from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio received
Best in Class Outcomes designation at the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions
Alliance Industry Summit conference held in Philadelphia in May. Sandra’s interactive modules help
interprofessional learners grasp key concepts in planning and providing quality care to patients with
COPD. Sandra’s program has received activity approval through MNA. The MNA web site contains a link
to these modules - http://wipediseases.org/
Are Your Interested In Sharing Information with Other
Approved Providers?
From time to time, we get requests from provider units wanting to know how other approved providers
handle certain situations. Two issues in particular have come up in the past month:
1. If an employee comes to your facility from another approved provider facility, and that
employee has validation that he/she has completed continuing education and demonstrated
competency in a particular area, would you be comfortable accepting the evidence from the
previous employer’s nurse planner that your new employee was competent? While we clearly
recognize that each employer is accountable for assuring competency of its own workforce, we
also appreciate that sharing data can cut down on time and costs related to duplication of
classes and testing.
2. Does anyone have a policy and procedure related to mandatory education? We do have a
provider unit that would like this information by September 1, if you have anything you would
like to share. If so, please send to Pam as soon as possible ([email protected]).
We are willing to have a section on the MNA approved provider web site tab for “best practices” if you
have information you would like to share with your colleagues.
Research Data related to Education Specialists in Hospitals
The Association for Nurses in Professional Development (ANPD) recently completed a study to
determine the number of educators employed in hospitals of various sizes. While this data does not
address issues specific to the roles and functions of these educators, it does provide benchmark data to
assist in determining staffing patterns for education departments. Data from this study was shared at
Montana Nurses Association is accredited as an approver of continuing nursing education by the
American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
the ANPD Conference in Las Vegas last month. Findings indicate that staffing tends to follow this
pattern:
Under 200 beds = 6.7 educators
200-400 beds = 188 educators
401-1000 beds = 38.5 educators
1001-2144 beds = 68 educators
Educator = full time FTE; 16% were certified in Nursing Professional Development, 34% BSN, 61%
masters and doctorally prepared
New Article Addresses Content Integrity, Commercial
Support, and Bias
Pam Dickerson and Kathy Chappell are the authors of a July, 2015, article in the Journal for Nurses in
Professional Development (JNPD). The article defines the terms content integrity, commercial support,
and bias, discusses their implications in nursing professional development, and provides examples and
decision guides for various types of occurrences. Note: This topic will be the subject of the ONA/MNA
fall webinar series. Information about the article is available at
http://journals.lww.com/jnsdonline/Abstract/2015/07000/Content_Integrity,_Conflict_of_Interest,_and
.7.aspx
Nursing Professional Development Certification
In the email earlier this month, we asked who would be interested in taking a Nursing Professional
Development certification prep course. That has prompted some questions about the certification and
eligibility requirements. The certification in Nursing Professional Development is equivalent to
certifications in other professional practice areas, like oncology, med-surg, ED, critical care, school
nursing, parish nursing, and others. The certification examination is derived from content in the Nursing
Professional Development Scope and Standards of Practice, jointly published by the American Nurses
Association and the Association for Nursing Professional Development. The prep course help people
focus on the components of the Scope and Standards they need to be familiar with in order to be
successful in becoming certified.
Criteria for eligibility to sit for the exam include:
1. Current active RN license
2. Bachelor’s degree or higher in nursing
3. Practice for the equivalent of 2 years full time as an RN
4. Have a minimum of 4,000 hours of clinical practice in nursing professional development in the
last 5 years
5. Have completed 30 hours of continuing education in nursing professional development within
the last 3 years.
Complete information is available at www.nursecredentialing.org/NPD--Eligibility.aspx.
Updates From ANCC
Pam and Kathy traveled to Washington, D.C. earlier this month to participate in the Accredited Provider
and Approver workshops. As expected, there was substantial discussion around the recent modifications
to criteria and the revised process for documenting your activity planning processes. Your colleagues
from around the country share your enthusiasm for having fewer approved provider criteria to write to
when you complete your provider application! Adjusting to the new format and thought process for
documenting activity planning is the piece that is requiring the most effort on the part of both
accredited approvers and nurse planners in provider units. As we have shared with you in the past,
ANCC’s Accreditation Program is very committed to quality and consistency. It is important for all
provider units to adhere to the same standard, and there must be congruence in how peer reviewers
and appraisers evaluate evidence from all accredited and approved providers around the country. That
said, we also appreciate the fact that different provider units operate in different ways, and ANCC does
not want or intend to dictate operational details. However, feedback from those of you who have
worked with us in piloting the new forms has been extremely helpful in proposing minor modifications
to the activity documentation forms. MNA has been a leader in collecting and sharing data that will help
make your documentation processes evidence-based, logical, and effective in helping you plan your
activities to achieve desired outcomes. Please continue to provide your feedback and suggestions as you
work with the new forms. We have reviewed samples from several of your provider units and offered
feedback. Special thanks to those of you who are willing to allow us to use your examples as we educate
others. We are providing input to ANCC that will probably result in some modifications to the forms we
are using. These will NOT affect the substance of the documentation – just ways to help you efficiently
and effectively document your processes and serve as quality indicators for peer reviewers to evaluate
your work. We’ll let you know as this work continues to evolve.
Nurse Planner Webinars
Several of you have already scheduled webinars for us to provide education on the activity development
process for your nurse planners. We are happy to do this, so please do contact Kathy
([email protected]) to set up a time for your nurse planner education. The goal of doing individual
sessions is to customize the education to the needs of your specific group, so please do let us know how
we can help you best in planning and presenting these sessions.
Upcoming Events, Activities, and Opportunities
MNA/ONA webinar fall series:
All of these activities are currently open for registration. All will be jointly provided by the Ohio Nurses
Association and the Montana Nurses Association, and Pam will be the speaker for each session.
Registration is open and being handled by ONA. Registration for each webinar is limited to 100
participants, so please register as soon as you confirm that you will be able to participate. Webinars will
be archived for viewing at a later date if you are unable to attend the real-time session.
How To Facilitate A Webinar
Date: Thursday, September 24 at 12 noon MDT (2 pm on the east coast, 10 am in Alaska) –
NOTE: this is a repeat of the July 28 webinar on this topic
Registration: Go to www.ohnurses.org and click on “events’ Or go to the direct link:
July 28: https://www.ohnurses.org/events/July-28-2015-how-to-facilitate-a-webinar/
September 24: https://www.ohnurses.org/events/september-24-2015-how-to-facilitate-awebinar/
Cost: $15
Contact Hours: 1.08
Fall Webinar Series on Content Integrity
Session 1: Addressing Conflict of Interest
Dates: Tuesday, September 15 at 8 am MDT (10 am on the east coast, 6 am in Alaska)
OR Wednesday, September 16 at 1 pm MDT (3 pm on the east coast, 11 am in
Alaska)
Session 2: Managing Commercial Support
Dates: Tuesday, October 13 at 8 am MDT (10 am on the east coast, 6 am in Alaska) OR
Wednesday, October 14 at 1 pm MDT (3 pm on the east coast, 11 am in Alaska)
Session 3: Educational Design – Assuring Fair and Balanced Content
Dates: Tuesday, November 17 at 8 am MDT (10 am on the east coast, 6 am in Alaska)
OR Thursday, November 19 at 1 pm MDT (3 pm on the east coast, 11 am in
Alaska)
Registration: https://www.ohnurses.org/events/content-integrity-webinars/
Cost: $45 for the series (you don’t have to commit to one date or the other when you
register)
Contact Hours: 1.08 per session
Contact Pam or Kathy for additional information about any of these webinars.
MNA Annual Convention: September 30 – October 2, 2015
Helena
Veteran Centered Care in the Civilian Health Care World: November 12, 2015 Helena
Transition to Practice: January 24 – 25, 2016
Helena
APRN Pharmacology Conference: March 4 - 5, 2016
Helena
Contact Information
Pam Dickerson, PhD, RN-BC, FAAN, Director of Continuing Education
[email protected]
1-406-465-9126
Kathy Schaefer, BA, Continuing Education Specialist
[email protected]
1-406-442-6710
Mary Thomas, BA, RN, OCN
[email protected]
1-406-442-6710