SHIELD offers CNE (ANCC) credit and participation credit for a majority of our courses.

Pharmacology credit, interprofessional continuing education (IPCE) credit, and professional development points (PDPs) are also offered for a limited number of courses. View the “Credit” column in our course catalog for more information.

SHIELD offers continuing education (CE) credit through the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, which is a jointly accredited provider. Learn more about joint accreditation here.

SHIELD is also a registered professional development (PD) provider with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). This allows us to issue PDPs to Massachusetts educators in accordance with state recertification guidelines. View our PD Provider Registry profile here.

Continuing education (CE) in nursing is a requirement for license renewal every 2 years. To renew a Massachusetts nursing license, the Board of Registration in Nursing requires all licensed nurses in Massachusetts to complete 15 contact hours (CH). A CH is equal to 60 minutes of attendance and participation in a program that meets the Board’s requirements for CE programs. Learn more about Massachusetts CE requirements for nurses here.

Nursing continuing professional development (NCPD), also known as continuing nursing education (CNE), is a term coined by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Nursing contact hours (CH) are used to measure the time spent engaged in NCPD activities (e.g., a CE program could offer “1 contact hour of NCPD” or “1 contact hour of CNE”).

A professional development point (PDP) is a Massachusetts-specific unit of measurement of professional development (PD) activities. Generally, 1 clock hour of professional development activity is equivalent to 1 PDP.

PDPs are used by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to track professional development requirements for renewing a Massachusetts educator license. Professional educator licenses are valid for 5 calendar years and are renewable for additional 5-year terms. Educators are required to earn 150 PDPs in order to be recertified in their primary area of licensure. Learn more about Massachusetts PD requirements for educators here.

For more information on PDPs, visit DESE’s PD FAQ page.

SHIELD issues PDP certificates for courses lasting 10 or more hours on a topic. This aligns with DESE’s requirements for PDP-eligible activities.

The following SHIELD courses currently qualify for PDPs:

• Strengthening Your Leadership Presence and Management Practices
• The annual 4-part Comprehensive School Health Services (CSHS) Training Series
  • Attending all 4 training sessions is required to receive PDPs.
  • These sessions are open to all MA school nurses, regardless of CSHS grant status.

Yes. Educators may "bundle" several activities together when reporting their PDPs, provided they can demonstrate that these activities are related/similar in topic. View DESE’s instructions on how to combine certificates for PDPs here.