Recognition by healthcare professionals

First Aid & CPR Washington

In health care, keeping your skills current is central to protecting patients. For nurses in Washington, that means meeting the Board's continuing-competency standard at each cycle — one where resuscitation courses explicitly count; for nursing assistants, a completed CPR course is a condition of certification. Here is what the rules expect for your role — and how recognized, up-to-date, documented training meets it.

Health professionals: continuing education and up-to-date skills

Registered and licensed practical nurses in Washington renew their licence through the Washington State Board of Nursing, which sets a continuing-competency standard combining continuing education and documented practice to keep clinical knowledge and skills current. You choose activities relevant to your nursing practice.

Under Washington's nursing regulations, a nurse is accountable for maintaining competence and for responding appropriately in a clinical emergency. Being able to initiate resuscitation and basic life-saving measures is part of the standard of safe, competent care the Board expects.

These professions are subject to a mandatory continuing-competency standard: the Board requires 8 hours of continuing nursing education per year (including 2 hours of health equity) plus 96 practice hours. Its continuing-competency guidance explicitly lists CPR, ACLS and PALS as acceptable continuing-education activities, so an accredited resuscitation course counts toward the hours; basic life support otherwise remains an employer requirement.

The requirement is met by any recognized continuing-education activity on an eligible topic. CPR/AED, ACLS (advanced cardiovascular life support) and PALS are among the eligible activities; other topics also qualify (for example safe prescribing, suicide prevention or violence prevention). A single course therefore both meets the obligation and counts toward your hours — provided you keep the proof.

Eligible courses offered in your region

How training becomes recognized

Not all activities are equal. For continuing education to be recognized by a professional order, it must meet specific criteria:

  • the instructor’s competence;
  • the relevance and quality of the content;
  • the training framework;
  • the quality of the material provided;
  • mechanisms to monitor and assess participation.

In Washington, these are the criteria the Washington State Board of Nursing applies — accepting courses from an accredited body-accredited and other recognized providers — to recognize a continuing-education activity. Our training is designed to meet these criteria.

Rigorous online learning

Our training draws on the latest medical research and combines practical modules with a theoretical assessment. The resulting certification is credible and verifiable — presentable to your professional order and to your employer — and prepares you to excel in your practice.

Support and care staff: a certificate required to work

A CPR and first-aid course does not replace occupational training — it is added to it. To work with vulnerable people, a valid first-aid certificate is often required in addition to your professional training.

Washington goes further for support staff. Candidates must complete a CPR course before applying for Nursing Assistant-Certified (NAC) certification — a standalone credential, distinct from the training itself, that must be obtained and then kept current. The specific level (such as BLS/Healthcare Provider) is defined by facility rules, and a recognized certificate meets that requirement.

See the recognized training for this role

Attestation, certificate and invoice: proof your training is recognized

On successful completion, you receive:

  • an official attestation;
  • a certificate of completion;
  • a detailed invoice;
  • online access to your documents for as long as your certification remains valid.

These documents are the proof to present to your professional order to credit your hours, or to your employer to demonstrate your compliance.

For organizations: keep your team compliant

When the certificate is an employer requirement, the real challenge is tracking. Our organization system manages a team’s training: a certification dashboard, deadline tracking, automatic renewal reminders and proof archiving. An organization keeps its whole staff current without watching every date by hand.

Training aligned with the latest emergency-care standards

Our CPR, AED and first-aid training is developed in line with the most recent international guidelines for emergency cardiovascular care and first aid.

We rigorously follow the recommendations of ILCOR (International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation), the international body responsible for the scientific evaluation and development of global resuscitation standards. These recommendations serve as a reference for health organizations, institutions and professional orders worldwide — and are updated as scientific and clinical evidence evolves.

Keep your skills current with confidence

Every intervention can make a difference. Keeping CPR and emergency-care skills current is both a professional requirement and a responsibility toward patients, colleagues and the public.

See all health-care courses

References

Content is being updated.