Recognized accrediting organizations for continuing education credit

  • NCC
  • State boards of nursing and State nursing associations
  • Nursing, medical or health care organizations (this would include, for example, such organizations as: ANCC, ANN, AWHONN,  NPWH, NANN, NANNP,  ACOG, AMA, AAP, etc.)
  • Colleges or universities

  • For-profit or not-for-profit continuing education organizations provided that programs sponsored by such organizations have been accredited for continuing education.

    Most of the for-profit organizations have achieved accreditation for their offering through a state board of nursing or healthcare organization. Review accreditation details in the registration brochure you received when registering for the particular continuing education activity.

Is my CE acceptable? - Specialty Codes

The NCC maintenance program is designed to show that each certified professional has maintained knowledge in their core certification specialty.   Core certification specialty knowledge is based on what is tested on the certification or subspecialty examinations and what is covered on the exam content outline.

Content topics and their specialty can be accessed below by selecting your certification specialty.   Codes for other activities such as preceptorship, educational presentations, being author etc., are listed under other codes.

The keywords are GENERAL AND BROAD TO REFLECT TOPICS NOT COURSE TITLES.   So if you take a course on epidural anesthesia, it may fall under the keyword pain management, or a course on neonatal skin rashes will fall under skin disorders or a course on improving communication among health care providers will fall under patient safety.

Keywords must relate directly to the Content Outline Description. 

A secondary source to look at is the content outline for the specific certification in the Candidate Guides. 

If you are still unsure about the eligibility of your CE hours, you can get them officially approved with our maintenance pre-approval form for a fee of $30.

How to use the coding portal

  1. Review your CE activity. Is it in your certification specialty? In order to be used for maintenance, your CE must relate to content tested on the certification examination. This reflects your core certification knowledge competencies.
  2. Select a core competency area that is most related to the CE activity for which you are seeking clarification (ex: a course on electronic fetal monitoring would fall under Fetal Assessment - Code 1) and review the topics covered within the code.
  3. If you did not find a topic covering your CE, browse the keyword listings. Remember, keywords are general and broad, specific topics might fit under a general category.

Choose a certification specialty

Choose a certification subspecialty