Pharmacy technicians have until November 30, 2017, to renew their annual permit with ACP. As part of the renewal process, pharmacy technicians must complete their Continuing Competence Program (CCP) requirements, which include:
- Completing a minimum of 15 continuing education units (CEUs)
- Recording all learning on one or more learning records
- Implementing at least one CEU worth of learning into your practice and documenting this on an implementation record
- Completing the required learning activity that has been assigned by the Competence Committee. This can be found in the Self-Assessment/Prescribed Activities section in the CCP portal.
Non-accredited learning can be used toward your CEU requirements. When creating a learning record for non-accredited learning, keep in mind that you must upload your learning certificate to your learning record AND describe the learning activity; and, explain how it relates to the competency category you selected and your scope of practice. This is different from accredited learning, where this description and explanation are not required.
When writing your implementation record, make sure to be clear about your implementation objective. Consider the following list of questions to help you determine the details you’ll include:
- Learning – what knowledge and/or skill did you want to put to use?
- Implementation – what steps did you need to take to apply this learning to practice?
- Specifics – what details did you consider (e.g., intended audience, timelines, roles and responsibilities, supporting documentation)?
- Target – what was the intended outcome of the implementation?
- Improvement to your professional practice
- Improvement in organization and/or delivery of care
- Transfer of knowledge, skills, or abilities to patients or other health professionals
Although not required, you are encouraged to state your implementation objective in a SMART format (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based). Information on how to write a SMART objective is available on the CCP Requirements webpage, which also includes examples of how to prepare your implementation and learning records, CCP rules, and more.
And to help guide you through the CCP process, check out ACP’s Pharmacy Technician Continuing Competence Program Guide.
Originally published in the November 8, 2017, issue of The Link
