Please review the information below, which outlines the processes for offering Nursing Continuing Education at UCLA Health.
We encourage that all course coordinators take Orientation to Designing Continuing Nursing Educational Activities in Cornerstone.
All UCLA Health educational activities for nurses should be submitted to the Center for Nursing Excellence PRIOR to the activity. It is necessary for UCLA Health to track all courses, even if contact hours are not awarded. This includes classes, conferences, in-services, webinars, skill's days, etc. This ensures proper tracking, measurement of professional development outcomes, and allows the Center to provide optimal support for the planning and hosting of all activities.
Nurse Planners are available to help from the initial planning stages through the completion of an activity. The Center is also able to offer limited administrative assistance. Note: Not all resources are available for all events. The exact level of support will be discussed with your Nurse Planner.
In order to allow for advertising and staff scheduling, we recommend allowing a minimum of 12 weeks for the planning of any educational activity. Larger events and conferences will require additional planning time.
The following items are required for all activities awarding contact hours. Deadlines are important to ensure the quality of course content and to provide adequate time for participant registration.
| Required Item | Due Date |
| Center Station Request Form | > 4 weeks prior to session |
| Agenda | > 4 weeks prior to session |
| Planning Template | > 1 week prior to session |
| CV/Resume (from all presenters) |
> 1 week prior to session |
| Conflict of Interest Form (from all presenters) |
> 1 week prior to session |
| Course Material (from all presenters) |
Day of session |
| Sign-in Sheet (uploaded to Cornerstone) |
< 2 days post-session |
| Roster Management (submitted in Cornerstone) |
< 2 days post-session |
All activities, including repeat courses with the same content, must be communicated to the Center at least 4 weeks in advance through the Center Station Request Form. To meet BRN & ANCC requirements, course content from repeat courses must be reviewed annually by the Course Coordinator and the Nurse Planner. (Hint: The Planning Template can be saved, revised & resubmitted for repeat activities).
UCLA Health offers contact hours for nurses through both the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) and the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation (ANCC). Course Coordinators should consider offering ANCC contact hours because many certifications held by UCLA nurses require ANCC contact hours for renewal. All courses that are awarded ANCC contact hours are automatically awarded BRN contact hours. See the Tip Sheet: ANCC vs. BRN for more information on the different requirements for providing contact hours.
Statements referring to contact hours on all flyers and course material must adhere to strict guidelines. Do not distribute materials that indicate the type or number of contact hours until approved by the Center for Nursing Excellence.
Certain educational activities do not qualify for contact hours. However, it is important for the Center to be notified of all educational activities in order to adequately track nursing professional development in Cornerstone. To notify the Center of an activity not awarding contact hours, complete the Center Station Request Form and select that contact hours will not be awarded.
Tip-Sheets on how to construct a course and for help completing the required Planning Template:
Tip Sheet: Common Nursing Professional Development Terminology
Tip Sheet: ANCC vs. BRN
Tip Sheet: Gap Analysis
Tip Sheet: Learning Outcome vs. Learning Objective
Tip Sheet: Learner Feedback
Additional Templates
Save-the-Date Template
Flyer Template
E-Learning Module Template (Note: All e-learnings must use the Center Module Template 16:9 proportion)
For questions, contact:
Kathleen Feldman
Nursing Professional Development Specialist
Center for Nursing Excellence
kfeldman@mednet.ucla.edu
