NurseWeek: Training for tomorrow

Training for tomorrow
Continuing education legislation aims to maintain competence among nurses

By Jennifer Birch
December 11, 2000
Photo: Photodisc

Rapid changes make it imperative for nurses to learn today's required competencies, which may vary considerably from those needed at the time of initial licensure or certification.


	You've read the article. Now tell us what you think. Related site Arkansas State Board of Nursing Measure of Reassurance The escalating complexities of health care – stemming from new pharmaceuticals popping up nearly every day, innovative surgical techniques, arcane equipment and an increasingly savvy health care consumer – have compelled the nursing profession to confront the issues of promoting continuing competence of experienced and certified practitioners among their ranks. In part, the impetus for the proposed legislation in Arkansas that would require nurses to take CE courses stemmed from "To Err is Human," a report issued in November by the Institute of Medicine. The report said that medical errors kill between 44,000 and 98,000 people in U.S. hospitals each year, and medication errors kill 7,000. More deaths result from medical errors than from: Highway accidents: 43,501 in 2000, according to the National Vital Statistics report. Breast cancer: 41,200 for both genders in 2000, according to the American Cancer Society. AIDS: 16,323 in 2000, according to the CDC. Given that medical errors account for as many deaths as they do, it seems legitimate to ask what’s going on among health care providers. Searching for one source is futile; errors could stem from the way hospitals choose to store medications that are much more powerful and deadly than before if mishandled, or the way interns and residents are forced to work long hours with inadequate rest.

Nurses in Arkansas will be required to complete 15 contact hours of continuing education every two years as part of a bill that a legislative committee will begin considering next month.

Rapid changes make it imperative for nurses as well as others in the health care industry to learn today’s required competencies, which may vary considerably from those needed at the time of initial licensure or certification.

"Back in 1999, legislators [in Arkansas] began questioning why other health care professionals had a continuing education component in order to get re-licensed and nurses in our state did not. In order to be proactive, we have had a task force looking at this for the past year and have made recommendations for a model for continued competence," said Faith Fields, MSN, RN, executive director of the Arkansas State Board of Nursing.

Of course, nurses now take CE courses because the hospitals require them for annual evaluations, or once certified, they must retest or submit proof of having taken CE courses, said Kimberly Porter, RN, MNSc, a post-graduate instructor in the med/surg department at Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock.

"Some just want to learn more," Porter said.

"I think it’s pretty likely that the legislation will be passed. And I think it’s a good thing. I think nurses to be in CE, because as technology changes and there are new advances, if you’re not working in the field, you may not know anything about it," Porter added.

A lot of coverage about medical and medicine errors has been in the media lately, which has prompted more public interest concerning how competence is maintained; implementing continuing education will help address that, said Keitha Griffith, RN, chief nursing officer at the Medical Center of South Arkansas and president of the Arkansas Organization of Nurse Executives.

"In our facility, we already have a continuing education program in place. I myself have always maintained a personal commitment to continuing education, ever since the ’70s when I was a staff nurse. It’s important," Griffith said.

The Arkansas State Board of Nursing has been fortunate enough to win the Member Board Award from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing in Chicago; the Arkansas Nurses Association’s Friend of Nursing Award; and Gov. Mike Huckabee’s Smart Moves Award, granted to the board for advancements in public access to information on the Internet.

Fields said the board had a statewide summit to get input from both employers and consumers in order to determine what they expected out of the nursing profession.

"We used that information to develop the model that we have. I can’t predict the general [RN] response, but as with any new proposal you’re always going to have resistance – no good deed goes unpunished – but we hope that it will be minimal," Fields said.

Guidelines for completing the proposed CE credits, such as those for online courses, have yet to be determined. If the bill is passed by July, it is expected to go into effect by January 2002, Fields said. At that point, she added, the state board will decide how to implement it.