Contact Hours
Q. What is the difference between a contact hour and CEU unit? Are they the same?
A. A contact hour and a CEU are not the same. The ANCC/Midwest MSD uses the “contact hour” as the unit of measure for approved nursing continuing professional development activities. A contact hour is defined as “a unit of measure that describes 60 minutes (1.0 hour) of an organized learning activity that is either didactic or clinical experience. Contact hours may be awarded only for those portions of an educational activity devoted to didactic or clinical experience and/or to the time participants spend evaluating the activity” (ANCC 2013, pg. 25). The ANCC COA allows accredited approvers and providers of CNE to award contact hours for 60 minutes of participation in an approved educational activity. Besides didactic or clinical experience, contact hours can also be awarded for learner-directed and learner-paced independent studies.
The International Association for Continuing Education and Training is an international organization that allows agencies such as colleges, universities, and professional agencies to award a Continuing Education Unit (CEU) for their educational programs. The ANCC Accreditation Program does not utilize the term CEU when referring to the continuing nursing education unit of measurement (ANCC 2015).
Staff development departments in a large health care or educational setting might be approved to offer both CEUs and contact hours. Since the CEU and contact hour are different units of measure, staff developers need to review their math when determining the amount of the unit to award participants. For example, if a program were 360 minutes long, the CEUs awarded would be 360 minutes or 6 hours ÷ 10 hours/CEU, or 0.6 CEUs. The contact hours awarded would be 360 minutes ÷ 60-minutes/contact hour, or 6.0 contact hours. It is important to note that the terms CEU and contact hour are not interchangeable.
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. 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 where each participant records the time involved in the activity and an average is documented. The pilot study participants must be representative of the target audience and minimally RNs. Another approach used with written materials online is a recognized formula using data such as word count and level of reading and level of technical difficulty. Many on-line learning platforms will also provide time spent in each module for all learners, which can be averaged.
Q. Can contact hours be awarded to participants who are not nurses?
A. If the provider chooses to do so, certificates verifying completion and the number of contact hours awarded can be given to all participants who meet the criteria for successful completion, whether the participants are RNs or individuals from other professions.
Participants should be aware that the contact hours are specific to registered nurses and those other professions such as nursing home administration or respiratory therapy may or may not recognize the contact hours approved by the Midwest MSD or awarded by a Midwest MSD Approved Provider.
Q. Can contact hours be awarded to participants of ACLS and PALS certification courses?
A. As of May 2013, the Commission on Accreditation (COA) permits awarding ANCC nursing contact hours for all content in courses that are repeated on a regular basis for all learners.
The COA believes that learning is reinforced by repeat exposure to educational content, and repeat exposure may be more likely to result in behavioral change. Learners are accountable for choosing educational activities that meet their learning needs.
All of the requirements for developing an activity from previously developed content and activity file contents are the same as for other planned activities. The Approved Provider Unit must have procedures in place identifying what the gap is for their target audience, what participant information is obtained, what requirements for successful completion are required and how is it determined they are met, that evaluations are provided to each participant, and that certificates meet all specifications. Record keeping must follow ANCC/Midwest MSD guidelines.
An Approved Provider Unit may choose NOT to offer contact hours for ACLS, PALS or other “canned” educational offerings. Approved Provider Units may also need to be cognizant of the Board of Nursing requirements in their state regarding utilizing contact hour for re-licensure purposes.
Q. Can contact hours be awarded for Basic Life Support (BLS) classes?
A. As of May 2013, the Commission on Accreditation (COA) permits awarding ANCC nursing contact hours for Basic Life Support (BLS) classes.
The COA believes that BLS is of critical importance for patient safety. This change is in congruence with our accreditor colleagues in medicine and pharmacy. In addition, the COA believes that learning is reinforced by repeat exposure to educational content, and repeat exposure may be more likely to result in behavioral change.
All of the requirements for developing an activity from previously developed content and activity file contents are the same as for other planned activities. The Approved Provider Unit must have procedures in place identifying what the gap is for their target audience, what participant information is obtained, what requirements for successful completion are required and how is it determined they are met, that evaluations are provided to each participant, and that certificates meet all specifications. Record keeping must follow ANCC/Midwest MSD guidelines.
An Approved Provider Unit may choose NOT to offer contact hours for Basic Life Support (BLS) classes.
Q. What content is acceptable to meet the pharmacotherapeutic requirements for advanced practice nurses?
A. Content to meet the pharmacotherapeutics hour requirement must specifically address pharmacotherapeutics. This may include, but is not limited to, drug specific information, safe-prescribing practices, safe medication administration, managing side effects, prescribing methodologies, new regulations or similar content. Presenters must possess expertise in pharmacology and are not required to be a nurse for hours to count towards re-certification.
Delineate the number of pharmacotherapeutics contact hours on the agenda or other marketing materials provided to learners. Note that detailed content outlines and corresponding time frames are necessary to accurately determine pharmacotherapeutic hours. Utilize the content outline and assigned time frames for pharmacotherapeutic content to calculate the appropriate number of contact hours, and note this on the Educational Planning Form.
Q. Our agency provides contact hours to those nurses who view a videotape of a program or conference. Is this appropriate?
A. Contact hours may be awarded to nurses who view videotape or audiotape presentations as they are considered enduring materials. The enduring materials must meet all of the ANCC/Midwest MSD requirements of educational design process, evaluation, etc. and the Approved Provider Unit must maintain an educational planning /program file and all other required documentation.
It is not appropriate to award contact hours to individuals who only view a tape of the educational activity. If an agency provides a videotape of an educational activity for staff to review, a separate learner-directed activity should be developed with post-test questions or other mechanism to ensure viewing was done and learning outcomes were met if contact hours are to be awarded.
Q. Can contact hours be awarded to those individuals who are involved in the pilot testing of an educational activity?
A. Yes. Individuals acting as learners for the purpose of a pilot-test may receive contact hours for that educational activity when the appropriate number of contact hours has been established. These “learners” must be representative of the target audience and minimally RNs. Pilot testing is important in demonstrating the effectiveness of the teaching or learning materials used in the educational activity and in determining the number of contact hours awarded. The approved agency must maintain records of the data used in deciding the number of contact hours to be awarded for participating in an activity. This is the one instance where contact hours can be provided retroactively.
Q. Can contact hours be awarded if the individual only attends a portion of an educational activity?
A. A provider needs to determine whether partial credit can be awarded for an educational activity and should have internal policies in place to make a sound decision when these situations occur. This decision may be based on your specific State Board of Nursing requirements. If the educational activity is designed to have individual sessions, contact hours may be awarded only for those sessions attended. If a specific number of contact hours are awarded for attending an entire educational activity, the provider of the educational activity needs to determine if partial contact hours should be awarded, again, based on the provider’s own policies and criteria for verifying participation and successful completion of an educational activity. Generally, participants who are absent for a portion of the formal presentation should be held to the same standard as those who attend the total educational activity. The provider must be able to describe how learners were informed of the requirements for completion (ANCC 2015, p. 33 – 34).
Q. If the Nurse Planner is also a presenter, can she receive contact hours for the NCPD activity?
A. The presenter for an activity, regardless of his/her other roles, such as Nurse Planner, cannot receive contact hours for the portion of the activity he/she is presenting. If, however, the remainder of the educational activity constitutes a learning experience for the speaker, credit for that portion of the educational activity may be awarded based on the provider’s internal policies and criteria for verifying completion of an educational activity. The provider must have a procedure in place to document the number of contact hours awarded the presenter as different from other participants.
It is inappropriate for the speaker to receive contact hours for their presentations because they are considered the expert on the topic. Going back to the definition, continuing education builds upon the nurse’s knowledge. If the speaker does not have the knowledge, then they would not have been selected to present.
Q. In my agency, we usually only have time for a 30-minute program. Can we offer continuing education (nursing contact hours) for these short educational activities?
A. Yes, nursing contact hours may be awarded for educational activities 30 minutes or more in length. The provider must ensure that the educational design criteria are met for all activities regardless of their length.