“What’s at stake?”

The New Mexico Board of Nursing is charged with protecting the public, and as such it also supports and protects the nursing profession. Could the stakes be any higher? Most nurses are also the public seeking health care themselves, and we want the same thing: safe, effective health care.

Continuing Education

All NM RNs and LPNs are required to successfully complete 30 hours of approved continuing education (also called nursing continuing professional development or NCPD) every 2 years for re-licensure. Approval of continuing education is achieved through an approval / accrediting body. It is important to note that organizations’ annual educational requirements may only be used toward re-licensure if they have been approved through an approval / accreditation body.

Nursing Continuing Professional Development cannot be discussed without first defining accreditation by American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to become an Accredited Approver Unit (AAU). Accreditation is a significant honor because it means the continuing education processes used by the AAU have gone a step beyond the ordinary. According to ANCC:

Accreditation is the voluntary process by which a non-governmental agency or organization appraises and grants time-limited accredited status to institutions and/or programs or services that meet pre-determined structure, process, and outcome criteria (ANCC NCPD Accredited Approver Policy and Operations Manual, version 1.0, 09.21.23.p.55).

What that means for New Mexico Nurses Association (NMNA) is that our association uses the “higher bar” ANCC standards by applying ANCC criteria and processes for approval of individual activities, or approved provider organizations that provide multiple ongoing professional learning activities. The enhanced substance of the continuing education for learners is where the value lies. The number of contact hours awarded is the metric used to measure the amount of time a nurse has spent learning through an NCPD activity.

NMNA’s Donabedian Model for NCPD

The Donabedian Model was used to create the model in  Figure 1: NMNA’s Donebedian Model for NCPD. The model was developed in 1966 by Avedis Donabedian and is utilized for a healthcare quality focus. It has evolved over time to be used in many circumstances, including NCPD. The triad of two-directional arrows clearly demonstrates the interconnection among structural capacity, educational design processes and quality outcomes which are the main principles we use for approved NCPD. An individual or an organization must have an adequate structure that supports our processes, values, and standards.

Adherence to our learner-based educational design principles is key. Assessing the Professional Practice Gap (PPG) and what learners need to close that gap is an essential piece.  Finally evaluating whether that PPG was closed by the activity for participants demonstrates effectiveness of activities.  It cannot be emphasized enough that the ANCC PROCESS is what makes our NMNA approvals excellent.  The NCPD contact hours that NMNA AAU approves are accepted by Boards of Nursing to meet re-licensure requirements because of this.

For more information, please visit our website at https://nmna.nursingnetwork.com.

NCPD and the New Mexico Nurse Practice Act

It is required for nurses to become familiar with the NM Nursing Practice Act (NPA) and recommended to keep the law and the rules where they can be easily referenced.

The references for this article are the NM Nursing Practice Act (NPA) and the Rules can be found at this link:

https://www.bon.nm.gov/laws-rules/

Save this page in your favorites! Please remember, the NPA is the law, passed by the legislature and signed by the governor. Important Excerpts from the NM NPA From the Rules, Part 2:

16.12.2.10 CONTINUING EDUCATION: A. Introduction:

(1) Pursuant to the provision of the Nursing Practice Act, the board of nursing prescribes the following regulations establishing requirements for CE to be met by the licensee to protect the health and well-being of the citizens of New Mexico and to promote current nursing knowledge and practice.

2) Philosophy of CE: The members of the New Mexico board believe that CE is one of the most important responsibilities of the nurse and is a lifelong process. The primary responsibility for CE rests with the individual nurse. A diversity of nursing-related learning activities is recommended to enhance the scope of professional development.

16.12.2.10.C. Approved continuing education: To be acceptable in New Mexico, the CE activity must have been approved by a recognized approval body and must enhance the licensee’s scope of professional development as related to their activities in nursing. The participant must receive a certificate of attendance which validates the number of approved CE hours awarded, name of the participant, sponsoring agency, approval body and date attended. Correspondence courses and home-study programs are acceptable, if approved.

(1) Recognized approval bodies for CE for nurses: (a) National or state recognized nursing organizations; (b) Other state boards of nursing; and (c) New Mexico boardapproved local monitoring systems.

If you are currently in school, please note:

(2) Other CE which may be accepted as approved CE for nurses: (a) academic credit, computation: one academic credit equals 15 contact hours; 16.12.2 NMAC 8 (b) CE units (CEUs) or contact hours awarded by CE divisions within educational institutions of higher learning; (c) educational offerings approved through other generally recognized health care or professional organizations as related to licensee’s nursing practice.

Academic credit, computation: one academic credit equals 15 contact hours if a 16-week course and one academic credit equals 10 contact hours if an 8-week course. The “generally recognized health care or professional organizations” includes those continuing education courses with approval: AMA, Graduate Medical Education, etc.

If you are an RN with a national certification

16.12.2.10.E. Certification or recertification in the registered nursing specialty area: Certification or recertification granted by a national professional organization which uses criteria designed to recognize competence in a specialized area of nursing practice may be used as approved CE. Verification of certification or recertification within the current renewal period is accepted in lieu of the 30 hours of CE required for licensure.

From the Rules, Part 1: Certification and certified versus certificate:

16.12.1.7 DEFINITIONS:

1. Definitions beginning with the letter C:

(1) “certificate” means a legal document granting permission to an unlicensed person to perform specific functions considered the practice of nursing;

(2) “certificate of completion” means a piece of paper or diploma awarded after the completion of an educational or vocational training. A certificate of attendance or completion does not convey mastery and is often followed by clinical demonstration to confirm knowledge transfer; the presence of a certificate alone does not mean certification or certified.

(3) “certification”, means approving a professional for their eligibility for a role by an authority; it is evidence of mastery of knowledge and skills, such as national standards, by passing an exam or meeting industry standards; it requires ongoing continuing education and demonstration of competence in the specialty field; a licensee with a certification can be said to be certified.

If you are an APRN you are required to have a national certification:

Certification or recertification in the advanced practice registered nursing specialty area granted by a national professional organization which uses criteria designed to recognize competence in a specialized area of nursing practice may be used as approved CE. Verification of certification or recertification within the current renewal period is accepted in lieu of the 30 hours of CE required for licensure.

If you are an APRN who prescribes controlled substances your five (5) hours of non-cancer pain management must include the following, From the Rules Part 9:

16.12.9.10 NON-CANCER PAIN MANAGEMENT CONTINUING EDUCATION: Any advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) with a drug enforcement agency (DEA) registration and licensure that permits prescribing opioids, shall obtain continuing education on the management of non-cancer pain. These practitioners shall be required to obtain five contact hours every renewal period to include a review of these rules 16.12.9 NMAC for management of non-cancer pain, an understanding of the pharmacology and risks of controlled substances, a basic awareness of the problems of abuse, addiction and diversion, and awareness of state and federal regulations for the prescription of controlled substances. [16.12.9.10 NMAC – Rp, 16.12.9.10 NMAC 5/21/2024]

If you are a registered nurse, including advanced practice registered nurses, working in an aesthetic healthcare facility, and you are not being directly supervised by an APRN certified in aesthetics, you must have a national certification. Said another way, if you are in training and being precepted for the necessary hours to sit for a national aesthetics certification, you must be directly supervised by an on-site APRN with aesthetics certification. Please read Part 14 carefully: 16.12.14.8.C EDUCATION AND SCOPE OF PRACTICE.

The main take-away is that the NM Board of Nursing and NMNA Accredited Approver Unit are focused upon the quality continued learning of nurses. The approved contact hours are only a way to show that actual learning was experienced by participants. And, finally, it is that learning which leads to higher quality practice and improved patient outcomes.

References

Donabedian A. (2005). Evaluating the quality of medical care. 1966. The Milbank Quarterly, 83(4), 691–729. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0009.2005.00397.x

Nursing Practice Act (NMSA). § 61.3 (2003). https://s3.amazonaws.com/realFile30f9bb9a-feed462b-abce-56bd5dd949fa/998d0218-c400-44d7-9bfa-95b3f9abeb74?response-contentdisposition=filename%3D%22Nursing+Practice+Act+5.18.22.pdf%22&response-contenttype=application%2Fpdf&AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIMZX6TNBAOLKC6MQ&Signature=hIfih eAqaQQzbicxFSFUgenFc4s%3D&Expires=1727292115