ACEN SPRING 2022 UPDATE

ACEN SPRING 2022 UPDATE:
KEY POINTS SUMMARY FOR PEER EVALUATORS

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  1. Please review the “Resources” folder in the ACEN Repository for visit information.
  2. Visit Reminders
    Team Chairs: please contact the nurse administrator as soon as reasonable after receiving the site visit confirmation to begin planning and alleviate anxiety for the program. Many programs contact the office if they do not hear from the Team Chair within a week or two of receiving their team confirmation.

    Review of the draft agenda sent by the nurse administrator PRIOR to the visit is critical.
    • A sample agenda is on the ACEN website and can be customized for the visit using the agenda items documents for each visit type.
    • Agenda must include each interviewee’s name, credentials, and title.
    • There is no longer a separate interviewee list.
    • The final agenda (with any corrections to interviewees) must be submitted by the Team Chair with the Site Visit Report (SVR).
  • There is no longer a clinical observation (and the table has been removed from the SVR).
    • The clinical observation has been replaced with a video meeting with clinical agency representatives (e.g., Chief Nursing Officer, Director of Education, charge nurses, staff nurses, preceptors, and perhaps program graduates).
    • Site visitors should treat this like any other meeting on the agenda and incorporate the information obtained from the meeting into appropriate sections of the Site Visit Report such as Criteria 2.4, 2.6, 3.8, 4.2, 4.5, 4.6, 4.9, 5.2, 5.3, 6.4.
    • The team chair should also ensure that the agenda provides the names, credentials, titles and the agency/facility that each person represents.
  • Please do not ask the program to supply information to you before you have read the report or reviewed items in the Repository.
    • Programs have provided feedback that they are being asked to provide information before the visit that has already been provided in the report and/or repository.
    • Also, do not ask the NA to complete portions of the SVR or tables in the SVR. The tables in the SVR are for the site visitors to complete and then verify with the nurse administrator or through other appropriate means.  
    • Please notice most of the SVR tables also now require that you provide specific details regarding how the information was verified, which is specific to your role as the peer evaluators.
  • Remember, the formal Exit meeting is OPTIONAL.
    • Though most programs do like to have a formal exit meeting, the only required final meeting is with the nurse administrator to review findings and provide the recommendation.
    • The nurse administrator may prefer to only have the private exit meeting with the team, or they can elect to also include on the agenda a formal exit meeting and invite whomever they wish to be present. It is the NA’s meeting and they decide who is present. 
  1. ACEN Repository
    Approximately six weeks prior to the visit, the program will upload the report and evidence into the repository and mail a hardcopy of the report and any required appendices (i.e., FPT, Abbreviated Syllabi, SPE) to each site visitor.
    • If the hard copy is not received, the team chair should check the Repository and contact the nurse administrator and/or the ACEN office.
    • An unlocked “Revised or Requested Information” folder will be available six weeks before and during the visit; if additional information is requested or provided, the program would upload it to this folder.
  1. Site Visit Report (SVR) Template
    Revisions to the template have been made based on feedback; so you will see some changes.
    • The tables and prompts have been included to assist you with the completeness of the narrative- Please use them!
    • Tables/rows have been added to remind you that information related to credential/experiential requirements and/or GO/State/GO Accreditor requirements must be included in the report (1.6, 2.1, 2.2, 4.8).
    • Please use the title of the document (e.g., “College Organization Chart”) and/or a description of the content (e.g., “detailed curriculum map with course and EPSLOs”), when referring to evidence in the repository; do not use references such as “Exhibit 1.5”, “Appendix 4.1b” or “located in Standard 2 folder”, which does not help the ERP or BOC when reading the SVR.
    • Remember, the program’s report itself is not the evidence reviewed, it is the program’s story regarding compliance. It is the interviews, tours, and supporting evidence that peers use to verify, clarify, and/or amplify information when writing the SVR; these are the items that should be referenced in the narrative to support your findings.
    • Data provided by the program in their report (such as program credits and program outcome data), need to be verified by the site visitors; how this information was verified should be described in the narrative.
  • Verification of qualifications (nurse administrator, faculty, and staff).
    • Job descriptions should be reviewed for the NA, program coordinators, faculty, and all staff so qualifications can be summarized in the SVR.
    • If these items were not provided, the Team Chair should request them to be uploaded to the “Revised or Requested Information” folder in the Repository.  
  • Programs are still in transition with the change to on-time program completion.
    • There should not be any Areas Needing Development or Non-Compliance because a program has not yet transitioned. If the program is still using the 150% timeframe, that is fine; just indicate what their plan is for transitioning to the on-time completion rate calculations.  
  • Enrollment information should reflect the number of students enrolled in nursing courses.
    • The enrollment information should not include those who have declared the major but not yet started the nursing portion of the program.
  • Next Levels of Review Information.
    • The Spring Cycle ERP is June 1 and June 6-9, 2022. The program will receive communication from the ACEN office about the exact date and approximate timeframe their program to be reviewed by the ERP.
    • The closed BOC meeting will occur September 7-9, 2022. This is a closed meeting.

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