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From the desk of Adrianne E. Avillion, DEd, RN

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, November 4, 2011

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Editor's note: This feature is written by nursing professional development expert Adrianne E. Avillion, DEd, RN. Each week, Adrianne writes about an important issue in the area of professional development or answers reader questions. If you have a question for Adrianne, e-mail her at adrianne1@comcast.net.

Changes in the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Accreditation Program

Several recent publications have triggered a need for change to the ANCC Accreditation Program. These include:

• Macy Report: A 2008 report that addressed the current status of continuing education (CE) in the healthcare professions. The report recommends that the focus of CE should be on practice-based learning, a national inter-professional continuing education institute to promote research and promote the science of professional development education should be established, new ways must be found to fund CE and reduce/eliminate commercial funding, and new ways to provide and accredit CE be established.
• IOM Report: A 2010 report on redesigning CE emphasized the two primary functions of CE are to maintain current practice and translate new knowledge into practice.
• Carnegie Report: Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation: Findings from a major research study of nursing education focused on basic nursing education but had implications for CE as well. Some of the critical recommendations that affect Nursing Professional Development include the need to support students as being "change agents," foster inter professional learning, and develop better transitions from student to professional through the establishment of residency and internship programs.

In response to these and other publications, such as the 2010 ANA/NNSDO publication Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice, on the status of education the ANCC Accreditation Program has been undergoing a review and revision process. Emphasis is on operating the program on a sustainable business model, proactive identification of contemporary CE issues, revising criteria to reduce redundancy and enhance clarity, and changing the focus from process to outcomes.

Additional measures include:

• Development of a joint accreditation program with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. (See www.nursecredentialing.org/Accreditation/Joint-Accreditation-Program.aspx for more information.
• Development of an accreditation of nursing skills competency program. (See www.nursecredentialing.org/Accreditation/NursingSkillsCompetencyProgram.aspx for more information.

An excellent article on the ANCC changes is:

• Dickerson, P.S., & Chappell, K. (2011). Addressing innovation: Changes in the American Nurses Credentialing Center accreditation system. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 42(10), 441-445.

Additional resources are:

• American Nurses Association & National Nursing Staff Development Organization. (2010). Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice. Silver Spring, MD: Nursebooks.org.
• Benner, P., Sutphen, M., Leonard, V., &Day, L. (2010). Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Hager, M., Russel, S., & Fletcher, S.W. (Eds.). (2008). Continuing Education in the Health Professions: Improving Healthcare Through Life-long Learning. New York, NY: Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation.
• Institute of Medicine (IOM). (2010). Redesigning Continuing Education in the Health Professions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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