If you’re a nurse anesthetist in the Continued Professional Certification (CPC) or Maintaining Anesthesia Certification (MAC) Program, you’re in the right place. Regardless of the program you’re in, the National Board of Certification & Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA) requires you to complete 100 hours of continuing education and professional development, including 60 Class A credits and 40 Class B credits. We understand it can be difficult to earn these credits with a busy lifestyle. That’s why we’ve created a one-stop shop for everything you need to know about CRNA Class B credits.
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What are Class B credits?
Class B credits are a type of continuing education nurse anesthetists are required to earn for recertification. Unlike Class A credits, Class B credits don’t require AANA approval, have an assessment, or undergo a prior-approval process. Whether you are enrolled in the CPC or MAC program, you must earn 40 Class B credits per four-year cycle.
How to earn Class B credits
Qualifying activities for CRNA Class B credits must meet one of the following criteria:
- Enhance knowledge of anesthesia practice
- Support patient safety
- Foster an understanding of the broader healthcare environment
From teaching to mission trips, there are various activities that qualify as Class B credits. They include:
- Class A: Assessed Continuing Education (CE)
- Subspecialty or Austere Clinical Practice Role
- Non-Prior Approved and/or Non-Assessed CE
- Integration of a New Clinical Practice Technique
- Academic Credits
- Service – Seated or Elected Activity
- Presentations
- Service – Mission or Diplomacy Activity
- Publication – Book
- Service – Advocacy or Public Relations Activity
- Publication – Chapter
- Life Support Courses
- Publication – Peer Reviewed
- Quality Improvement Initiatives
- Publication – Grant
- Discovery
- Teaching in the Clinical Setting
- Research or Practice Inquiry Project – Member of Committee or Team
- Clinical Administrative
- Research or Practice Inquiry Project – Principal Investigator or Individual Completion of Dissertation, Thesis, or DNP/DNAP Project
Earning Class B credits from Class A credits
If you earn over the required number of 60 Class A credits, you can roll those over to count towards your Class B requirement. With APEX Anesthesia Review, you can fit earning Class A and Class B credits into your busy schedule. Get everything you need for your 4-year cycle with one of our CRNA continuing education bundles, which include hundreds of AANA-approved Class A credits delivered in multiple methods and are more than enough to cover your Class B credits requirement.
Class B credit documentation
Each Class B category has a required audit document you’ll need to keep on file. There is also a category reporting document you can download. View the NCRNA Class B table to see the corresponding documents to keep a record of.
Maintaining your activity records is essential for reporting Class B credits in your credential renewal. Even though the NBCRNA has an honor system, they may still audit you for your corresponding documents.
One of the key benefits to applying excess Class A credits to your Class B requirement is that APEX will save you time and give you peace of mind by reporting these credits to the AANA for all active members.
Submitting Class B credits
If you’re an active American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) member, you can record and track AANA Class B credits as well as submit documentation on the AANA website. Not an AANA member? You’ll need to report your Class B credits during your 4-year credential renewal. If you’re not an AANA member, you’ll report your Class B credits to the NBCRNA.
Using APEX for your NBCRNA Class B credits? Perfect! APEX reports credits for active AANA members during business hours Monday through Friday, saving you the extra step of submitting Class B credits yourself. If you’re not an AANA member, you can also print your APEX credit transcript to submit to the NBCRNA.
APEX makes it easy to get everything you need for your entire 4-year CPC cycle or MAC cycle! Ready to get started? Check out our courses for CRNA Continuing Education credits.
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