FAQs

The request for contact hours needs to be submitted at least 45 days prior to the proposed activity date. Only one request form per activity per calendar year is required. For example, if your activity is a monthly series, only one request form is needed for the calendar year. 
•    A Nurse Planner from the Provider Unit is required to assess whether appropriate educational design principles are used and processes are consistent with the requirements of the ANCC NCPD Accreditation Program. 
•    In addition, certain documents must be completed and reviewed prior to the event in order to fulfill the requirements necessary to award contact hours. 

You may not know the exact date of your event when you submit your request, which is perfectly fine. In the event you do not know the date, please select the first day of the month you think the event will occur in your best judgment.
Example:
•    In your best judgment your upcoming event will occur in October.
•    Please select October 1 as your activity date.

Your request will be triaged for eligibility by the Accredited Provider Program Director (APPD). A member of the Provider Unit team will reach out to you if clarification is needed, and then eligibility will be determined within 5 days of your submission. 

Once a request form is deemed eligible, a nurse planner from the provider unit (Department of Nursing Education and Professional Development [NEPD]) will coordinate the educational design process and documentation requirements to provide contact hours for your activity. 

Email contacthours@vumc.org and we will set up a time to discuss your request and determine eligibility.

• No, ANCC and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) criteria are two distinct types of criteria and the process to award continuing education credit differ.  
• For more information on Continuing Medical Education (CME), click here. 

Yes. Continuing education is offered in a variety of ‘currencies’ and is vital to the professional development of the healthcare team.  Formal documentation of continuing education is attainable by attending an event with one of the following: Nursing Continuing Professional Development (NCPD) or Continuing Medical Education (CME) attendance. Check with your credentialing or licensing body for specific requirements for maintaining certification or licensure. 

The designated nurse planner will determine the contact hour value based on eligible content. Introductions, breaks, meal times, and ineligible content are excluded from the time-based calculation. Traditionally, this is calculated using the number of minutes of educational time divided by 60 = number of contact hours. 

There needs to be a nurse planner from the provider unit (NEPD) and a content expert. There must be at least 2 people on the planning committee.

Yes, this is time spent narrowing a practice gap. A VUMC employee or a vendor representative (with exceptions) can facilitate the in-service. You must submit a request form to initiate this process. 

Maintenance of attendance rosters is the responsibility of the activity contact—not the nurse planner/provider unit. The provider unit is required to maintain all accreditation-related documentation for 6 years.  

How to retrieve your certificate :
1. Once you complete all lessons, open the collapsible section at the bottom of the window
2. Select Overview and download the certificate under Outcomes

Retrieving the certificate after exiting the module:
1. After exiting the module window once complete, another window will open
2. Select Overview and download the certificate under Outcomes

Retrieving the certificate after exiting LMS and signing back in:
1. Select My Courses
2. Select the filter funnel to the far left of the screen
3. Toggle to show completed modules
4. Click on the name of the module complete, and a new window will open
5. Download the certificate under Outcomes

Screenshots of retrieval instructions

If you have questions regarding certificate retrieval, please contact contacthours@vumc.org