Frequently Asked Questions
About Accreditation
Select from the following:
- General
- Provider Unit (Accredited and Approved)
- Questions Most Frequently Asked of Approvers
- For The Approver Unit Only
General
Q: What is the accreditation process?
A: The ANCC system for accreditation of continuing nursing education is a voluntary recognition process. An institution, organization or agency submits to an in-depth analysis to determine the capacity of the entity to provide, or in the case of the approver, approve quality activities for nurses.
Q: How long is the accreditation?
A: Periods of accreditation are 4 years and 6 years. Organizations must submit a new application before the end of each accreditation period to continue status. In order to be accredited, applicants must document adherence to all applicable criteria and requirements.
Q: Can international organizations apply for ANCC accreditation?
A. Yes, any organization responsible for the overall development, implementation, evaluation, and quality assurance of continuing nursing education may seek accreditation. This includes international organizations whose headquarters are located outside the United States.
Conflict of Interest
Q: Must we, as the accredited provider, limit the promotional activities of companies that are not considered commercial entities?
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EXAMPLE #1: A speaker has written a book related to the topic that s/he is addressing in the presentation.
- EXAMPLE #2: A not-for-profit healthcare entity agrees to sponsor education. They wish to include ‘an invitation to practice’ at their hospital in the education material provided to the learner.
Provider Unit (Accredited and Approved)
Contact Hours
Q: My organization has published a series of home study booklets in 2006 which state that the contact hour is 50 minutes. Because the 60-minute contact hour must go into effect January 1, 2007, must we throw away our stock of booklets?
A: No. You can continue to sell those booklets with the 50-minute contact hour. Any new activities produced January 1, 2007 and after must indicate that one contact hour is 60 minutes.
Q: When calculating the number of contact hours I find that the number is two digits past the decimal point, or more. For example, 1.66. What is the number of contact hours I should use?
A. You can either award contact hours in the hundredths (i.e., two digits past the decimal point) or round down to 1.6. Do not round up.
Q: Can contact hours be awarded to participants who are not nurses?
A: Yes, anyone who attends may receive a certificate and contact hours.
Q: Can a presenter earn contact hours for the conference she/he is presenting at?
A: Presenters and authors can only receive contact hours for portions of the activity they attend but do not present. Presenters and authors may earn contact hours for their preparation of a presentation, article, or chapter if they approach this as an independent learner directed activity (see page 74 of the 2006 manual).
Q: Can nurses who participate in pilot testing receive ANCC contact hours?
A: Yes.
Q: Can contact hours be awardedto participants of ACLS, PALS, BLS, and BLS Instructor courses?
A: For initial certification, courses such as ACLS, PALS, and BLS, ANCC contact hours can be awarded.
For renewal certification, contact hours can be awarded for advanced skill courses only, such as ACLS and PALS (not BLS).
For the BLS Instructor course, contact hours can be awarded for the teaching modality content only of the classroom based BLS Instructor course. Note that this does not include the BLS content portion of the course. In addition, accredited providers and approved providers cannot award ANCC contact hours for the course offered online or on CD-ROM by AHA as these formats preclude the involvement of the accredited/approved continuing education unit in the planning or implementation of the activity.
Accreditation/Approval Statement
Q: Should the accreditation/approval statement be used in a “Save the Date” announcement?
A: The accreditation statement and approval statements should be used wherever the award of contact hours is indicated, even if the actual number of contact hours is not mentioned.
Q: It is not clear to me if the rules regarding the statement say that it needs to be on a separate line or just a self-contained sentence.
A: The statement must be both a self-contained sentence and be on a separate line from any other statements.
Education Design
Q: Can only the designated nurse planner(s) do the planning?
A. There can be many planners of an activity – a nurse planner must be one of them. The planning committee is made up of at least two people. The following stakeholders must be represented: content expert, and the target audience. Other planners do not have to be nurses.
Accreditation Logo
Q: Is it permissible to put the ANCC Accreditation logo on a certificate?
A. Yes, as long as it is in a less prominent place and smaller than the provider’s logo.
Commercial Support/Vested Interest
Q. If there is no conflict of interest, does the provider or approver need to disclose that?
A. The provider and approver need to secure from presenters, planners and reviewers a statement regarding conflict of interest on a vested interest form whether there is one or not. This information must be disclosed to the learners.
Q. Our nurse planner is married to a man who works full time for a major pharmaceutical company. He owns stock and receives salary. When our nurse planner completes her disclosure, must we publish (disclose to the audience) this info for EVERY program we do of which she is a part or only those when this pharmaceutical company is financially supporting and/or exhibiting at?
A. You will only need to disclose this information when it causes - or could cause - a bias in the continuing education being planned or implemented. In other words, if the activity is related to a product or service of the pharmaceutical company, then this would need to be disclosed. An alternative might be that you train a second nurse planner who would direct the planning committees addressing the educational activities where there might be a relationship with the pharmaceutical company.
Q. Can the sponsor logo be used on the certificate of completion?
A. No.
Q. Can a commercial supporter require that only their clients be given credit for an activity?
A. No.
Q. Is paying for food considered to be commercial support?
A. Yes.
Confidentiality of Records
Q. At our conference, we would like to distribute a list of participant names and contact info to all who attend. Is this permitted?
A. Since the names of participants and their contact info is confidential information, it is permitted only if you secure approval before the conference from the individuals whose names are on the list. The registration form might include a question asking for this approval.
Questions Most Frequently Asked of Approvers
ANCC Staff asked accredited approvers what questions their providers often asked. Here are some of those questions with the answers.
Q: Can contact hours be awarded to participants of ACLS, PALS, BLS, and BLS Instructor courses?
A. For the BLS Instructor course, contact hours can be awarded for the teaching modality content only of the classroom based BLS Instructor course. Note that this does not include the BLS content portion of the course. In addition, accredited providers and approved providers cannot award ANCC contact hours for the course offered online or on CD-ROM by AHA as these formats preclude the involvement of the accredited/approved continuing education unit in the planning or implementation of the activity.
Q. What is the difference between co-sponsor and co-provide?
A. From the web:
Co-Providership: Planning, developing, and implementing an educational activity by two or more organizations or agencies. ANCC Accreditation criteria requires that the accredited organization be responsible for particular aspects of the process to assure adherence to all the ANCC criteria. A written co-provider agreement is completed.
Sponsorship: Support (monetary or ‘in kind’) furnished to the provider of the education activity. Sponsorship must be acknowledged to learners. A written agreement is completed. When an educational activity is supported by more than one entity, each entity is a co-sponsor. Sponsors and co-sponsors do NOT participate in planning, developing and implementing the educational activity.
Q. How can I calculate and award contact hours for poster sessions (such as at a convention or multi-day CNE event)?
A. To award contact hours for poster sessions, the same criteria must be followed as for any other CE activity, including a logical and defensible method of determining the number of contact hours to award. There are a number of options. The approach chosen depends on the location of the posters, the schedule of the conference, and the objectives of the poster session. Simply assigning time in the conference schedule is not sufficient. The ANCC Accreditation Program staff can assist you in identifying options for your specific poster session.
Q. When a hospital is approved, but is part of a larger organization system, can they offer programs for the entire system under their name?
A. The approved provider unit can use their approved status only for those activities their provider unit plans, implements and evaluates. However, this provider can co-provide with other hospitals (either within the hospital system or without).
Q. In the above scenario, does the larger organization need to be accredited? Or does it depend more on their individual organizational structures?
A. The answer is the same.
Q. What is the value of ANCC accreditation status vs. California Board of Nursing approval (a cheaper and easier way to be approved)?
A. The California BON does claim that their approval is nationally recognized by all other BONs. However, this has not been verified. Approval through an ANCC approver is recognized by all BONs with the following exception: the CA and IA BONs will not recognize an approved provider’s CE if that provider enters those states to offer their CE, without the respective BONs approval. If the approved provider does not go into the states of CA or IA, then those BONs will recognized the provider’s contact hours awarded (this is true for internet courses and other home study courses as well).
Approval through an ANCC approver is also recognized by many certifying agencies such as the American Association of Diabetes Educators and ANCC.
Additionally, because approval through an ANCC accredited approver is reportedly found to be more rigorous than approval through the California BON, accreditation becomes a tool for the provider to know they are on target with their planning, implementing and evaluating of their CE, and a way to improve if they are not on target.
Q. How do you calculate contact hours for online or home study programs?
A. These hours must be calculated in a logical and defensible manner. One approach often used is the pilot study. Another approach sometimes used with written materials online is a recognized formula using data such as word count and level of reading and level of technical difficulty.
For The Approver Unit Only
Q. How long does the Approver Unit need to keep application documents of approved activities and approved providers?
A. Six years
Q. Should the approved provider keep their activity records for six years, which is how long the accredited provider needs to keep their records?
A. No. The approved provider should keep their activity records for at least three years. The accredited approver has the discretion to require its approved providers to keep their records for a longer period of time.
Q. Providers who submit their self study to ANCC do not submit three activities, but instead submit a list of activities (from which ANCC picks three to be reviewed during the site visit). Should the approved provider applicant send a list of activities or three sample activities?
A. The accredited approver will need to review activity files of an approved provider applicant. This may be accomplished by having the files sent to the accredited approver or by the accredited approver visiting the applicant and reviewing the files at that time. The accredited approver may choose which method they wish to use. If the approver performs site visits before awarding approval, they may use the same procedure as ANCC, i.e., ask for a list and choose three activities.
Q. If an activity is submitted for approval that is longer than three hours, does documentation for all hours need to be submitted?
A. According to the COA interpretation offered 04/10/06: When an activity for which approval is requested is 20 hours or greater, the applicant is required to submit to the accredited approver documentation for only three contact hours of the activity. The applicant is expected to maintain documentation for the full activity. The accredited approver has the freedom to request documentation for as many hours as they wish.
This page last revised 04/22/2008.