What are Class B Credits?

Class B credits are the most flexible component of the CPC Program. You can earn them through a wide range of professional activities that you are most likely already engaged in, but now get credit for them.

40 Class B credits are required per four-year cycle. 

Class B Credits Criteria 

Unlike Class A credits, Class B credits do not require prior approval and do not require an assessment. They are activities that must accomplish one of the following:

  • Enhances knowledge of anesthesia practice
  • Supports patient safety
  • Fosters understanding of the broader health care environment

Class B Credit Examples

There are currently 20 activities that count as Class B credits, including: 

  • Teaching
  • Publishing
  • Research
  • Morbidity and mortality conferences
  • Research and data collection
  • Mission trips
  • Extra Class A credits (over the required 60) 

For additional ideas, credit values and details about what professional activity information needs to be collected and reported to the NBCRNA, see the Class B Credits Table (PDF). Please note: you will only be required to submit this information if you are audited, but documenting it as you go avoids having to do so later if an audit is required.

If you do not see an activity you believe may qualify as a Class B activity, contact support@nbcrna.com to discuss whether that activity could be applied to the Class B requirement. The Class B Credits Table (PDF) includes optional templates you can use for each activity that specify what documentation is needed for each. 

Class B Credit Documentation

It is important to keep adequate records of your involvement in all professional activities you plan to use for Class B credit.

If you are an AANA member, you have access to an online portal through AANA to record and track your Class B credits and upload all supporting documentation.

If not, be sure to maintain your Class B credit activity records on your own to report them during your Credential Renewal every four years.

 

 

Additional Class B Resources

how-i-earn-class-b-thumbnail

Learn how your colleagues earn Class B credit. Or, submit your own using  this form.

classb-animation

Watch this short animation to learn more about Class B credit requirements.

class-b-table_small

To help you keep track of your Class B activity, templates are provided on the  Class B Credits Table (PDF) for each category.

Class B Requirement

  • Q How do I document/track Class B credits?

    The NBCRNA has developed a  Class B Activities Table that details what information needs to be collected and retained for Class B credits. To assist you in your record-keeping, documentation templates are provided for each type of activity on the Table. Alternately, AANA members can access an online portal to record Class B credit participation and upload all supporting documentation to evidence involvement in that Class B activity. If you are not an AANA member, you will maintain your Class B credit records on your own and report them to the NBCRNA every 4 years, much like you have managed your CE credits in the past. 

  • Q How does the Class B requirement relate to clinical practice?

    Class B activities strengthen the nurse anesthetist’s understanding of the healthcare environment. These added experiences provide opportunities to translate information into clinical practice and improve patient outcomes. Many activities are ones that you would already be engaged in for your licensure, hospital requirement, or other activities such as a mission trip, a conference that you sit in on, precepting students, being a member of a board or committee, taking ACLS and PALS that aren’t assessed, or hospital inservice, for example.

  • Q Can I report only Class B activities that are on the NBCRNA’s Class B Activities Table?

    The NBCRNA has published the activities that have been approved to qualify as Class B credit: the Class B Activities Table. If you do not see an activity you believe may qualify as a Class B activity and you wish to claim it, contact the NBCRNA to discuss whether that activity can be applied to the Class B requirement at support@nbcrna.com.

  • Q Do life support courses qualify for the CPC Program?

    Yes, credits from life support courses that are prior approved and have an assessment can applied to the Class A requirement. If credit is earned from courses that are not prior approved and/or not assessed, those credits can be applied to the Class B requirement. A nurse anesthetist may report up to a total of 20 credits per 4-year cycle of initial and/or renewal life support courses. Examples of life support courses include BLS, ACLS, PALS, NALS/NRP, and ATLS.

  • Q Can Class A credits be used to fulfill the Class B requirement?

    Yes, any Class A credits that are not applied toward a nurse anesthetist’s Class A requirement can be applied to the Class B requirement. So all Class A credits above the required 60 per 4-year CPC Program cycle can be applied towards the Class B requirement (of 40).