Aims, Structure, procedure and criteria

Who we are & what we do

EORNA ACE — Accreditation Council for Education

EORNA ACE was established in 2008 to support the harmonisation and improvement of the quality of continuing education for operating room and perioperative nurses across Europe.

Its purpose is to improve the quality of, and access to, continuing nursing education and professional development for nursing and healthcare professionals throughout Europe.

The practical way EORNA ACE does this is by making it easier to transfer educational credits earned through activities that meet common quality requirements:

  • between European countries
  • between different professions
  • when a nursing or healthcare professional moves to work in another European country
  • between the European credit system and comparable systems outside Europe

To make this exchange possible, EORNA ACE uses the ECMEC system, in which one hour of learning equals one credit. National systems can use this same unit directly, or set a fixed exchange rate against it.

Criteria for international accreditation of CME/CPD

Quality assurance of Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in European countries is the responsibility of each country’s National Accreditation Authority. The quality and effectiveness of the accreditation process, and the awarding of international CME/CPD credits, is assessed at European level by EORNA ACE.

A provider applying for international accreditation is expected to meet the quality criteria set by the relevant national and international authorities, and to submit evidence of the quality and content of the CME/CPD activity to EORNA ACE. This evidence covers five areas.

1. Objectives of the activity

  • The learning objectives of the CME/CPD activity
  • The target participants

2. The programme

  • A detailed written statement of the content of the event or training programme, and its expected outcome
  • Details of the practical organisation of the activity, including the premises, languages used and any interpretation provided

3. The provider

  • The name and relevant details of the programme director, who is held responsible by EORNA ACE for the event, including any conflicts of interest
  • The relevant qualifications of other lecturers and presenters
  • The structure of the provider organisation, including its statutes and rules of procedure where these apply
  • Details of previous conferences run by the same provider, including the teachers and programmes involved
  • Disclosure of any potential conflict of interest (for example, paid consultancy, significant investments or research grants), made in the printed programme or, at minimum, stated orally before the presentation begins; the same disclosure applies to members of the planning committee
  • Providers are only accredited for CME/CPD activities that they organise themselves

4. Commercial support

Commercial organisations may support CME/CPD activities, but the provider must ensure the educational programme is not influenced or biased by that support. Commercial support can take several forms, including exhibits, advertising, industry meetings and presentations, payment of expenses for faculty or participants (such as travel or accommodation), and educational grants.

Where industry presents its own content, this must be clearly distinguished from the CME/CPD activity itself, which remains under the control and supervision of the provider’s CME/CPD planning committee. Educational grants must always be given with no strings attached, and acknowledged in the printed programme.

5. Quality assurance

  • Providers must guarantee that the education given is non-biased
  • Actual attendance at events must be verified, recognising that this can be difficult to implement in practice
  • Providers of internationally accredited CME/CPD activities should submit a short report on each activity to EORNA, including an analysis of participant feedback
  • Arrangements must be in place for participants to feed back on the learning process to the provider
  • Self-assessment is required for both the provider and the participant, with appropriate mechanisms in place to support this

The accreditation procedure

  • The provider of an activity applies to EORNA ACE for European accreditation of the event, submitting full details of the activity alongside the application. This is assessed against the EORNA ACE quality criteria set out above.
  • EORNA ACE may seek professional advice from a professional body, or from individuals experienced in the relevant field, provided they are not the activity’s own provider.
  • Credits are awarded on an hour-for-hour basis under the ECMEC (European CME Credits) system: one hour of activity equals one ECMEC, up to a maximum of 4 ECMECs for a half-day activity and 8 ECMECs for a full-day activity.
  • EORNA ACE may also seek approval from the national regulatory body in the country where the activity takes place.
  • Where EORNA ACE is satisfied that all criteria have been met, it grants European accreditation.

This procedure is designed to meet the requirements of national regulatory bodies, with EORNA ACE providing the link between professional societies and other activity providers on one side, and national regulatory bodies on the other. Any change to the procedure requires the consensus of the EORNA Board; departing from that consensus would undermine the purpose of EORNA ACE.

The aim throughout has been to create a system that makes life easier for colleagues across Europe, while giving them confidence in the recognised quality of an activity. The system is decentralised, drawing on the expertise in quality assessment that already exists within professional structures across Europe.

How to apply

Providers seeking EORNA ACE accreditation for a CME/CPD activity can apply using the EORNA ACE application form below.

If you have any questions about the accreditation process before applying, contact the EORNA Secretariat.

Apply now
Contact us