Frequently Asked Questions

   
What is a contact hour?

A contact hour is 50 minutes of instruction.  The term continuing education is also allowed.  CEU is no longer used. 

What is an approved provider?

An approved provider is a person or company who is reviewed and authorized by a governing body to provide continuing education services.  In the United States, states have a reciprocal agreement between Boards of Nursing and most Boards governing other disciplines.  That means that if one state approves a provider, other states or territories will accept contact hours given by those providers.  Not all governing boards have a continuing education approval body.

What standards are used to determine if someone can be an approved provider?

The content of courses must be relevant to practice and above the level of the basic education for licensure.  Instructors must have a four year degree and two years of experience in the content area.  It is strongly recommended that the Education Director be master's prepared.  Courses must have a description, objectives, and and a means of validating learning (tests).  There are also additional record keeping and written company policy requirements.  All courses offered by Consolidated Learning Services are written by or in collaboration with a licensed individual with a minimum of two years experience in the field.  Everything is reviewed by the master's prepared Director of Education for compliance.

How are contact hours determined in a self study format?

At Consolidated Learning Services, after a course is written and formatted, it is taken by a minimum of three individuals.  One is licensed with experience in the content area.  One is licensed with no experience in the contact area.  The third is unlicensed.  Time to completion, number of attempts and test score are analyzed.  If the unlicensed individual scores within ten percent of the licensed test takers, the content is reviewed to ensure that it is above basic level.  Corrections are made, and the testing is done again.  The time to completion of the licensed individuals is averaged.  The total number of minutes is divided by 50 to determine contact hours.  Learning rates vary, so an average time is the most accurate determination of contact hours. 

There are companies cheaper than yours.

True.  There are also many more that are more expensive.  A bargain is nice, but as with anything that is priced below market value, the quality may not be up to par.    Our courses are designed to educate the individual professional, not just sell a certificate.  Who wants to be taken care of by a professional with minimal knowledge? Or worse yet, one who doesn't care that his knowledge is inferior. 

Why are some courses not given contact hours?

Remedial and refresher courses, by definition, are not above the level of basic education.  Some state boards give contact hours for refresher courses, on an individual basis.  Courses for unlicensed personnel do not meet the criteria.  The individual may always check with the State Board or individual employer for an exception.  Consolidated Learning Services is bound by the approving body that granted the provider status. 

Why do you  need my personal information?

We collect only the minimal information required for record keeping as dictated by the approval bodies.  We are required to keep those records for a minimum of five years.   If requested by a licensing Board, we are obligated to provide the information to that Board.  We do not publish your name or address. 

Why do you use Paypal?

Many people are uncomfortable with giving credit card information over the internet.  With a Paypal account, credit card information is provided only to Paypal, one time, when the account is started.  It provides a safer alternative for our clients, as we have no credit card information stored on our site.