ALANA Facilitates Process of Notification of Recertification Between ABN and NBCRNAMay 20, 2008 Dear Members, Last year the Alabama Board of Nursing (ABN) changed their requirement for notification of certification and recertification for all Advanced Practice Nurses in Alabama. The ABN now requires that they receive notification of certification and recertification directly from the certifying body, which for CRNAs is the newly reorganized National Board on Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA). The Alabama Association of Nurse Anesthetists (ALANA) has worked on your behalf to facilitate communication between the ABN and the NBCRNA to establish a notification processes that will meet the requirements and needs of both entities and require a minimum of effort on the part of our members. Effective immediately, the NBCRNA will send an electronic file to the ABN that will include all newly recertified CRNAs who have an Alabama address. These electronic transmissions will occur every two weeks throughout the recertifying period and will increase in frequency as the deadline of July 31st approaches. The individual CRNA who holds Alabama licensure and has an Alabama address will need to do nothing to initiate or facilitate this automatic notification from the NBCRNA to the ABN. Those individual CRNAs who hold Alabama licensure and have an address that is outside of Alabama must contact the NBCRNA themselves to request that notification be forwarded to the ABN. The NBCRNA recommends contacting them via e-mail at recert@aana.com. As in previous years, it is incumbent upon individual CRNAs to send their completed application for recertification to the NBCRNA as soon as possible. Ideally, individual CRNAs should send their completed applications to the NBCRNA on the day it is received. The AANA Website is host to detailed information about recertification under the CREDENTIALING tab. Information on this site and recent experience suggests that it takes the NBCRNA approximately four weeks to process an application from April through July. Due to the high volume of applications received in July, processing times are longer. The AANA website offers a tool individual CRNAs and their employers can use to check the status of their application. Under the CREDENTIALING tab, there is another tab for CREDENTIAL VERIFICATION. Within this section is a tool to verify the current status of an individual CRNA. Likewise, the ABN has a verification tool on their website. Alabama CRNAs must be mindful that their Advanced Practice Authorization is granted by the ABN and expires on the date listed on their individual card issued by the ABN. For CRNAs recertifying this year, the expiration date is July 31, 2008. Alabama CRNAs recertifying this year should do the following:
For clarification, the ALANA has functioned as facilitator between the ABN and the NBCRNA to advocate for our members in developing a smooth process for notification. The ALANA has no control over the actions, responsibilities, or duties of the ABN or the NBCRNA. Finally, we have received some further information from the ABN that our members may find helpful. Alabama Board of Nursing Requirements for CRNA Practice
The Alabama Association of Nurse Anesthetists advancing quality anesthesia care, serving our members, promoting the nurse anesthesia profession
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