Certificates of Participation

Why do representatives need in-service training/continuing education?

The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (Ombudsman program) promotes and protects the health, safety, welfare, and rights of individuals (residents) living in long-term care facilities. The Older Americans Act (OAA) and corresponding regulation directs the Ombudsman and the representatives of the Office to conduct a variety of activities in support of residents. To fulfill this mandate the Ombudsman and the representatives of the Office must have subject matter knowledge of resident rights, facility regulatory standards, the resident experience, complaint investigation, and the Ombudsman program’s policies and procedures. They also need to know how to operationalize this knowledge; for instance, how to carry out program policies on complaint handling, how to access resident records, and steps to disclose resident information. Residents call on Ombudsman programs to resolve a variety of problems, therefore a baseline competency of both knowledge and skills is necessary to support effect and credible Ombudsman program services. Read the full training standards here.

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What is the minimum number of continuing education hours needed each year?

A minimum of 18 hours per year is required although more hours are encouraged, especially for paid representatives of the Office. The Ombudsman program does not need to personally conduct all in-service training and shall provide or arrange training based on the needs of the representatives of the Office. Each State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is to also provide a minimum of 36 hours of initial certification training. Ombudsman program may choose to require more hours of training than the minimum. Read the full training standards here.

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Why is NORC offering continuing education certificates?

To assist Ombudsman programs in meeting annual continuing education requirements, NORC will provide certificates of participation to those that register and attend live NORC webinars and meetings via Zoom.

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If I hold a professional license (e.g., registered nurse, certified nursing assistant, social worker) do these continuing education hours count towards continuing education units (CEUs) required to maintain my license?

No, NORC is not offering CEUs. The purpose of the certificates is to show your attendance during a live webinar. The certificates are available for anyone that registers and joins a training; however, you need to speak with your supervisor or State Ombudsman if and how you can count this as continuing education.

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What if I listen to the live webinar with a group of representatives, will I receive a personalized certificate of attendance?

No, you must register for the training using your own email address and watch the live training using the link or phone number that was emailed to you. The platform has no way of verifying your attendance if you do not register ahead of time and use the personal credentials emailed to you.

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What if I can’t attend the live webinar, but I listen to the webinar recording from the NORC website or on Facebook, will I receive a personalized certificate of attendance?

No, you must register for all trainings ahead of time through Zoom to receive a certificate. The Quarterly Technical Assistance (TA) Talks will also be livestreamed on the NORC Facebook page, and the recordings and materials will be shared with the network and posted on our website, but you must register and attend through Zoom to receive a certificate or ask the presenters questions. This is the only way for NORC to verify your participation, duration, and automatically email you a certificate.

Stay Tuned! Although you will not receive a certificate unless you attend the live webinar, we are developing a process for individuals that listen to recordings to demonstrate their participation. We will share this process soon. In the meantime, if you listen to the webinar recording from the NORC website or via Facebook, consult with your supervisor to determine whether you can obtain continuing education credit for listening to the recording.

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I can’t attend the full webinar; will I still receive my certificate?

You must attend for a minimum of 30 minutes to receive a certificate. Once the training is completed you will be emailed a certificate that will include the exact duration you attended the training. Note that an error may occur if you join a training, drop off, and then join again. We will calculate the duration as the sum of all periods spent in the call. However, if you sign-up from a computer for half the meeting, then call in from a phone, we cannot match the email address with the phone number, so we can’t add the time you joined using the phone call.

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