Many registrants ask what learning activities can be included in their CCP learning plan or which activities are accepted by the CRNS. If you’re wondering about this, here are some helpful tips:

First, make sure your learning activities align with your learning goals. While all learning opportunities are valuable, it is important that the activities match the specific goals you’ve set for the year in order to meet your registration requirements.

For example, if you are an RN with a goal focused on Standard 5 (Self-Regulation), but your activities are centered on topics like best practices in harm reduction strategies (Standard 4 – Service to the Public) or exploring the use of nursing informatics to assist with staffing decisions (Standard 2 – Knowledge-Based Practice), these activities won’t align with your original goal.

In short, ensure that the learning activities you choose directly support the goals you’ve set for your professional development.

Within the CCP module in Alinity, registrants have access to a drop-down menu to explore options highlighting a variety of common learning activities. However, you may have other creative ideas that align well with your learning goals and will support and enhance your professional development .

This is one of the strengths of the CCP learning plan, it allows flexibility for registrants to identify and seek out what is needed as a professional nurse. A list of suggested activities can also be found on the CCP page of the CRNS website.

Let’s look at some examples of aligning learning goals to activities:

• Learning Goal: Leadership. Reading a book from a renowned and credible expert on leadership and applying that learning within your role and work context could be beneficial and applicable.
• Learning Goal: Understanding Indigenous Culture. You could accept an invitation from your colleague to attend a sweat lodge developing a deeper understanding of Indigenous culture and practices then apply your new understandings to your practice.
• Learning Goal: Provide ongoing mentorship. You could actively create a plan with your manager to provide ongoing mentorship and support to a new RN in your unit and keep a journal highlighting how you shared your knowledge and expertise as you guided your new colleague. Reflection is key to identifying ways you learned from the experience and how it impacted or will impact your practice moving forward. Not only would this help you develop professionally but it provides ongoing support to your new colleague and builds their capacity to practice safely, competently and professionally in a new context.

One important thing to remember is that each CRNS registrant will develop a CCP learning plan through the mandatory program. However, it will be specific to you and outline how you’d like to develop competence for that learning goal within the current registration year.

As you interact with your learning plan in the online platform throughout the year, continue to examine your goals and activities, but also capture incidental or unplanned learning that has occurred and has impacted your practice and competence as a nurse. Rich learning opportunities abound in nursing practice and capturing evidence of that learning in the CCP module is key.

If you have questions about completing the CCP successfully, please contact a Nursing Advisor with the CRNS Practice and Education Team at practiceadvice@crns.ca.