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Dr. Little is Primary Nurse Planner, CNE Approved Provider Unit, and Ms. Rocco is Branch Head, Local Technical Assistance and Training Branch and Public Health Nursing and Professional Development Unit, NC Division of Public Health, Raleigh; Dr. Randolph is President and Chief Executive Officer, Public Health Improvement Partners, Morrisville; Dr. Short is Associate Professor, Duke University School of Nursing, Durham, North Carolina; and Dr. Dickerson is Director of Continuing Education, Montana Nurses Association, Montana City, Montana.
The authors have disclosed no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.
Nurses participate in lifelong learning to keep abreast of current evidence-based practice (EBP), maintain and improve competence, and contribute to quality patient outcomes. Continuing nursing education (CNE) is recognized by State Boards of Nursing, employers, and certifying bodies as being grounded in educationally sound principles with content specific to nursing practice. The American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation (ANCC COA) is the international entity that sets standards for CNE and accredits organizations to approve and provide CNE contact hours. In July 2015, the ANCC COA released updated accreditation criteria ( ANCC, 2015 ), required to be adopted in 2016. An EBP implementation model and quality improvement (QI) strategies were combined to facilitate the adoption, implementation, and sustainability of the new criteria in North Carolina's Public Health Nursing approved provider unit (APU). The North Carolina Public Health Nursing APU consists of nurse planners representing women's health, child health, school health, communicable disease, and public health nursing specialties; an APU administrator who provides contract oversight; a primary nurse planner who holds authority and accountability for the unit; and an administrative assistant. The APU provides CNE for local and state public health nurses in North Carolina.
Literature Review
EBP models can provide an organized framework to guide the process of integrating and translating evidence into practice ( Schaffer, Sandau, & Diedrick, 2013 ). Several models are available, and the model that best aligns with the structural capacity of North Carolina's Public Health Nursing APU is the advancing research and clinical practice through close collaboration (ARCC) model ( Figure ; Schaffer et al., 2013 ).
The ARCC model increases employees' belief in EBPs, adherence to change, group cohesion, and job satisfaction. These improvements are realized by using readiness assessments and...