Council on Certification Professional Practice Analysis

The CCNA has completed a PPA and will begin implementing its recommendations with the December 1993 certification examination. The results of the PPA provide content validation for the CCNA certification examination. The certification examination is reflective of the knowledge and skill required for entry-level practice. Assessment of this knowledge is accomplished through the use of questions that are based on the areas represented in the content outline. Analysis of the PPA has resulted in changes in the examination content outline and percentages of questions in each area to reflect current entry-level nurse anesthesia practice. The new outline is based on the major domains of knowledge required for nurse anesthesia practice. These changes are justified by the consistency in the responses of the practitioners surveyed. There was overall agreement as to the knowledge and skills related to patient conditions, procedures, agents, techniques, and equipment that an entry-level CRNA must have to practice. Members of the CCNA and Examination Committee will use the revised outline to develop questions for the certification examination. The questions will be focused on the areas identified as requiring high levels of expertise and those that appeared higher in frequency. The PPA survey will be used as a basis for subsequent content validation studies. It will be revised to reflect new knowledge, technology, and techniques related to nurse anesthesia practice. The CCNA has demonstrated its commitment to the certification process through completion of the PPA and implementation of changes in the structure of the examination.