South Dakota State University's College of Nursing recognizes that lifelong learning promotes excellence in professional practice and personal development. To underline this belief, the college applied for and was granted accreditation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation in January.
The accreditation means that the college can continue to provide high quality professional development opportunities to its staff and faculty members.
"Accreditation as a provider of nursing continuing practical development (NCPD) allows the College of Nursing to offer professional development opportunities on topics that matter to our faculty and staff and align with the strategic goals of the university at large," said Theresa Garren-Grubs, clinical assistant professor in the College of Nursing. "Some previous topics have included refugee health, writing for publication, and assessing nursing students in academia."
According to the American Nurses Credentialing Center, "accreditation in NCPD recognizes organizations which demonstrate excellence in the ability to deliver nursing continuing professional development or approve organizations that have demonstrated excellence in the ability to deliver NCPD."
Further, the ANCC explains the "NCPD Accreditation Program contributes to improving health care outcomes by providing a voluntary peer-review process that defines standards for high performance in providing quality NCPD and measures compliance with those standards for organizations that elect to apply for accreditation."
The accreditation is valid for four years.