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Question:
I have 40 educational hours that were obtained at a wound care and hyperbaric week long course. Can these all be used toward the 50 hours needed for certification. These hours are on a combined certificate. Thanks

Answered March 20, 2019
All CE/CME credits must directly apply to the specialty area for which applied. Multi-day conferences may include professional practice topics or may be focused on a specific type of treatment i.e. hyperbaric oxygen (HBO). Professional practice topics do not relate directly to any clinical focus and are not accepted. HBO education programs receive partial credit but are usually not accepted in their entirety.

Question:
Would working on rehab and ortho units, where an RN was frequently expected to perform dressing changes, be acceptable "clinical experience" for the Experiential Pathway?

Answered March 20, 2019
Clinical experience is defined as any direct patient care in the specialty. So, the work setting is acceptable and you will count those hours.

Question:
I participate in a clinical practice committee. The committee identifies practice gaps, develops, and reviews policies and procedures relevant to clinical care at the bedside. Policies/procedures that are related to Pressure Ulcer/Wound Care, Ostomy Care, and Continence Care are reviewed by the committee. Through participation in this committee, I am involved and share expertise in other areas of care. For example, changes in nutritional supplements; changes in tube feeding equipment, CPAP care and relationship to skin care; venodyne boots use. My question is, can I submit participation in this committee as "facility committee (non-product), member", for 5 pts/year of "professional practice" as noted in page 16 of PGP under the continence section? Thank you

Answered March 19, 2019
Thank you for reading the handbook before posting your questions. You are correct that on page 16 of the 2018 handbook, the information about non-product committee in your facility is worth 5 points a year and if that committee is involved in all three specialty areas, it is considered professional practice. Please note that there are maximum points in this category and audit information is listed on page 17

Question:
As part of a full day conference at our facility, I coordinated a product fair that included various vendors. The vendors displayed products that were within our formulary for example, wound dressings, ostomy products, and skin care products (protective barriers and containment devices/products). My question is, can I add this activity to my PGP under "programs/Projects, product fair under the continence section (professional practice) for 5 pts? Thank you

Answered March 19, 2019
The product fair points would probably need to be split between the portfolios. In order to divide points, you would need to apply for pre-approval. Please see page 15 of the 2019 PGP handbook

Question:
I am a member of our facility's Clinical Product Review Committee. We review items directly related to WOC practice such as catheter kits, etc... can participation in this committee be added to the Continence section of PGP as "professional organization - institution/facility/agency Product Committee" and be entered as ?Professional Practice? Thank you

Answered March 19, 2019
According to the 2019 PGP handbook page17, the products committee work is worth 3 points per year. As long as the committee addresses products for all your specialties, you can claim these points as professional practice and use them in any portfolio. There are maximum points that can be taken,and audit material will also be listed on that page in the handbook

Question:
Our Foley catherization policy was revised and expanded to included female catherization. As a separate activity, a "foley insertion/removal" note was also created to facilitate tracking of insertion dates and removals. I entered revision of the catherization policy and mentioned the Foley note. My question is, can I enter the creation of the foley insertion/removal note as a separate activity? Thank you

Answered March 19, 2019
Since I am not sure what a foley note is, I feel that I must again recommend the pre-approval process. You will explain what you created, and the committee will assess its value. The pre-approval process is explained I’m page 15 of the 2018 PGP handbook

Question:
Can I enter the creation of an electronic order set for incontinence management as a "publication - create WOC Documentation form" in the "continence" section of the PGP? thank you

Answered March 19, 2019
Anything not specifically listed in the PGP handbook, can be pre-approved by the PGP committee. This will allow us to make the handbook more complete, and give you the most PGP points for your activities. The pre-approval process is explained on page 15 of the 2018 PGP handbook

Question:
Just to clarify - I don't need a bachelor's specifically in nursing to be eligible? It can be any bachelor's degree?

Answered March 20, 2019
That is correct, we accept any Bachelor's degree.

Question:
I presented a poster presentation for nurses week on colorectal cancer screening. I would like to use this in my ostomy tract. Would I use it under specialty or professional practice. Thank you.

Answered March 19, 2019
Since you want to use this poster for your ostomy portfolio, you would put it under specialty. (And it couldn’t be used any other place). The audit material is listed on page 25 of the 2018 PGP handbook.

Question:
Would the 57 hours of online wound education from woundeducators.com be acceptable CE's for the Experiential Pathway?

Answered March 18, 2019
Those CE are acceptable as pertaining to patient wound care, yes.

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