Whether you are an accredited provider such as i3 Health or you are an educational partner working with an accredited provider, it's still important to understand the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) criteria that underlie nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) activities. This is part of a periodic series of posts looking at what each criterion means in general and what it might mean for you.

The first two ANCC criteria focus on the organizational structure of the NCPD provider. Criterion OO1 looks at the big picture, while Criterion OO2 goes into details. We'll cover each criterion in separate posts.

Criterion OO1 requires an executive statement or high-level summary of no more than 1,000 words. How is it staffed? What is its mission? How does it fit into a larger organization? What impact does it have on its learners?

Depending on the size and structure of your NCPD program and/or organization, that 1,000-word limit may be very easy to stay within, in which case you can provide additional details on your target audience or the types of activities you provide. If your program is buried within a large organization, you may find that explaining those hierarchical relationships does not leave space for these details. That's okay. These additional details aren't required.

The goal of this criterion is to provide an understanding of the mission and impact of your program. Later criteria will get into the weeds of just how you plan your activities. For now, focus on how your program is staffed, its mission, and its impact.

In the next post, we'll go over the details asked for in OO2.