Letter from the President of PSNCB Jacqueline Frazee, RNFA, BSN, CPSN
H
appy New Year to all! Hope there was some good-quality time spent with loved ones this holiday season. It goes so fast… I thought I would take this opportunity to review what it is the PSNCB is responsible for. It is a work in progress as we maintain the standards set forth in our by-laws as well as stay up to date and modify with the changing environment of plastic surgery and health care in general. Routinely the CPSN examination goes through an audit process of the test questions. It is necessary approximately every 3 years to look at what are “good” test questions and what are “bad.” A task force, under the direction of CNET, looks at the data of each question and develops new questions to replace those that are either outdated or deemed unsuitable questions. These new questions are then put into a test environment and evaluated. If they appear to be “good” questions, they are then inserted into the examinations as viable test questions in the future. As you can imagine, this is a lengthy process and will happen sometime this spring. Another responsibility of your PSNCB board is to review the packets that are submitted for recertification. Board members are randomly sent packets for review to check for validity and completeness of packet. We are looking at the content of your CEUs, dates completed, safety credit, and so forth. We will also be doing random audits of those applying to sit for the examinations to
verify with the supervising core physician or administrator the validity of the applicant. With the advent of the new CANS (Certified Aesthetic Nurse Specialist) examination, we must be very diligent with these applications. The eligibility criteria for certification are clearly stated on the application page. A task force has reviewed the criteria for application and some changes have been made. Finally, I want to keep you updated on where we stand with the ABNS (American Board of Nursing Specialties). Currently we are not accredited by ABNS. Criteria for accreditation include, among other things, having a specific number of certified nurses, which we hope to reach with our new CANS examination. ABSNC (American Board of Nursing Specialties Certification) accreditation is a peer-review mechanism that allows nursing certification organizations to obtain accreditation by demonstrating compliance with the highest quality standards available in the industry. This process is lengthy and costly. The ASPSN is very supportive of this endeavor and will assist us financially. A task force has been established to get this process started. We have a very busy year ahead. Please feel free to contact any of your directors with questions or concerns. Our contact info is posted on the Web site. We are looking forward to what will hopefully be a productive year! Jacqueline Frazee, RNFA, BSN, CPSN President
Jacqueline Frazee, RNFA, BSN, CPSN, is RNFA in Plastic surgery at the Cleveland Clinic specializing in Reconstructive surgery. The author has not received any funding for writing this article. The author reports no conflicts of interest. Address correspondence to Jacqueline Frazee, RNFA, BSN, CPSN, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195 (e-mail: [email protected]). DOI: 10.1097/PSN.0000000000000029
Plastic Surgical Nursing
3
www.psnjournalonline.com
Copyright © 2014 American Society of Plastic Surgical Nurses. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
PSN-D-14-00004.indd 3
18/02/14 11:38 PM
H
appy New Year to all! Hope there was some good-quality time spent with loved ones this holiday season. It goes so fast… I thought I would take this opportunity to review what it is the PSNCB is responsible for. It is a work in progress as we maintain the standards set forth in our by-laws as well as stay up to date and modify with the changing environment of plastic surgery and health care in general. Routinely the CPSN examination goes through an audit process of the test questions. It is necessary approximately every 3 years to look at what are “good” test questions and what are “bad.” A task force, under the direction of CNET, looks at the data of each question and develops new questions to replace those that are either outdated or deemed unsuitable questions. These new questions are then put into a test environment and evaluated. If they appear to be “good” questions, they are then inserted into the examinations as viable test questions in the future. As you can imagine, this is a lengthy process and will happen sometime this spring. Another responsibility of your PSNCB board is to review the packets that are submitted for recertification. Board members are randomly sent packets for review to check for validity and completeness of packet. We are looking at the content of your CEUs, dates completed, safety credit, and so forth. We will also be doing random audits of those applying to sit for the examinations to
verify with the supervising core physician or administrator the validity of the applicant. With the advent of the new CANS (Certified Aesthetic Nurse Specialist) examination, we must be very diligent with these applications. The eligibility criteria for certification are clearly stated on the application page. A task force has reviewed the criteria for application and some changes have been made. Finally, I want to keep you updated on where we stand with the ABNS (American Board of Nursing Specialties). Currently we are not accredited by ABNS. Criteria for accreditation include, among other things, having a specific number of certified nurses, which we hope to reach with our new CANS examination. ABSNC (American Board of Nursing Specialties Certification) accreditation is a peer-review mechanism that allows nursing certification organizations to obtain accreditation by demonstrating compliance with the highest quality standards available in the industry. This process is lengthy and costly. The ASPSN is very supportive of this endeavor and will assist us financially. A task force has been established to get this process started. We have a very busy year ahead. Please feel free to contact any of your directors with questions or concerns. Our contact info is posted on the Web site. We are looking forward to what will hopefully be a productive year! Jacqueline Frazee, RNFA, BSN, CPSN President
Jacqueline Frazee, RNFA, BSN, CPSN, is RNFA in Plastic surgery at the Cleveland Clinic specializing in Reconstructive surgery. The author has not received any funding for writing this article. The author reports no conflicts of interest. Address correspondence to Jacqueline Frazee, RNFA, BSN, CPSN, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195 (e-mail: [email protected]). DOI: 10.1097/PSN.0000000000000029
Plastic Surgical Nursing
3
www.psnjournalonline.com
Copyright © 2014 American Society of Plastic Surgical Nurses. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
PSN-D-14-00004.indd 3
18/02/14 11:38 PM
