Nursing Professional Development Certification Examination Content Outline

This is a paper-and-pencil exam

There are 175 questions on this examination. Of these, 150 are scored questions and 25 are nonscored pretest questions. Questions are pretested to determine how well they perform before they are used in the scored portion of the examination. The pretest questions cannot be distinguished from those that will be scored, so it is important that a candidate answer all questions. However, a candidate's score is based solely on the 150 scored questions. Performance on pretest questions does not affect a candidate's score.

This Test Content Outline identifies the areas that are included on the examination. The percentage and number of questions in each of the major categories of the scored portion of the examination are also shown.

Note: While it is recognized that there are many terms for the Nursing Professional Development roles, for the purpose of this certification examination, all items will use the term "nurse educator" to identify the nursing professional development specialist.

Test Content Outline

1. Foundations of Practice
   1. Purposes, philosophy, and objectives
   2. Principles of adult education
      1. Teaching/learning principles
      2. Characteristics of adult learners
      3. Cybergogy
   3. Domains of learning
      1. Cognitive
      2. Affective
      3. Psychomotor
   4. Ethical and legal issues
      1. Confidentiality
      2. Copyright law
      3. Plagiarism
      4. Legal accountability
      5. Liability
      6. Other issues (e.g., conflict of interest)
   5. Teaching/learning methodologies (e.g., self-directed learning, computer-assisted instruction, interactive learning, distance learning)
      1. Principles and purposes
      2. Criteria for selection
      3. Process for development
   6. Change process
      1. Problem identification
      2. Management of change
      3. Evaluation of change
   7. Evaluation
      1. Purposes
      2. Methodologies
   8. Issues and trends
      1. Credentialing
         1. Definition of terms
         2. Purposes
      2. Scope and Standards of Practice for Nursing Professional Development
      3. Mandatory education
      4. Organizational climate (e.g., mergers, consortia)
2. Educational Process
   1. Assessment and identification of learning needs
      1. Purposes
      2. Strategies
   2. Educational planning
      1. Development of instructional/behavioral objectives (i.e., cognitive, affective, psychomotor)
      2. Content determination
      3. Scheduling
      4. Faculty selection and contracting
      5. Determination of learning methods
   3. Implementation of learning activities
      1. Methods (e.g., competency-based, critical decision making, preceptorship, train-the-trainer, skills acquisition)
      2. Techniques (e.g., lecture, discussion, role-playing, simulation, self-study, learning contract)
      3. Use of audiovisuals (including selection, preparation, and use)
   4. Evaluation
      1. Faculty effectiveness
      2. Objectives
      3. Content
      4. Teaching methods
      5. Facility
      6. Learning outcomes (i.e., influence of learning on knowledge, attitudes, and practice)
      7. Consumer satisfaction
3. Management of Educational Activities
   1. Internal and external marketing of educational activities
      1. Definition of terms
      2. Development of a marketing plan
         1. Market survey
         2. Identification of the target audience
         3. Establishment of deadlines for critical points in the plan
      3. Advertising and publicity
         1. Design of promotional materials (e.g., fliers, brochures, journal advertisements, public service announcements, newsletters, posters)
         2. Proofreading, printing, and distribution
         3. Management of mailing lists and lists of consumers
   2. Accreditation and approval
      1. Purposes and objectives
      2. Processes
         1. American Nurses Credentialing Center
         2. State nurses associations
         3. Specialty nursing organizations
         4. Other (e.g., state boards of nursing, International Association for Continuing Education and Training [IACET], National League for Nursing [NLN]
   3. Coordination of educational activities
      1. Materials, resources, and facilities
         1. Planning committees and meetings
         2. Facility selection and contracting (e.g., safety, accessibility, suitability)
         3. Catering services
         4. Materials and equipment management (e.g., handouts, audiovisual equipment)
         5. Coprovidership
      2. Registration policies and procedures
      3. Cancellation policies and procedures
      4. On-site coordination (e.g., environmental control, traffic control, trouble-shooting)
   4. Budgeting for educational activities
      1. Definition of terms
      2. Formulation of projected costs and revenues
      3. Monitoring of actual costs and revenues
      4. Comparison of actual costs and revenues
   5. Records
      1. Types and purposes
      2. Confidentiality and security
      3. Storage and retrieval
   6. Performance improvement
      1. Definition of terms
      2. Monitoring and evaluation
      3. Implementation of improvements
4. Roles
   1. Educator
      1. Factors affecting the educator's role
         1. Mission and goals of the organization
         2. Health care consumer populations
         3. Health care delivery systems
         4. Advances in nursing practice
      2. Professional Skills and Abilities
         1. Presentation
         2. Facilitation of critical thinking
         3. Personal and professional development planning
   2. Leadership
      1. Organizational and coordination skills
      2. Problem-solving skills
      3. Resource management skills (e.g., human, fiscal)
      4. Collaboration skills
      5. Communication skills (e.g., negotiation, conflict resolution, team building)
   3. Consultant/facilitator/change agent
      1. Consultation process
      2. Communication skills
      3. Coaching activities (e.g., remediation, career development, presentation improvement)
      4. Mentoring (e.g., role modeling)
   4. Researcher
      1. Principles of research
      2. Utilization of research findings

This page last revised 1/24/2007.