NRRTS stands on its education offerings

LUBBOCK, Texas – NRRTS expects to continue seeing increased demand for its education in 2021, as registrants and clinicians try to keep up with continuing education requirements during a pandemic that’s limiting in-person events.

NRRTS awarded 50 CEUs or 500 hours of education in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic first took hold in the U.S., up from 25 CEUs or 250 hours of education before that, says Annette Hodges, director of education.

“It has stayed pretty steady around 400 hours since then,” she said in January.

In addition to the pandemic, a recent partnership with the Canadian Assistive Devices Association will further increase participation in NRRTS education this year, organization officials say.

With many registrants and clinicians choosing to watch webinars on demand (89 are available in the NRRTS library), one of the organization’s goals for 2021 is to increase participation in its live events.

“There’s a huge advantage to being in the meeting with an expert and being able to ask those questions and get answers, so it’s more of a shared experience,” Hodges said. “We have some really good discussions.”

The topics of this year’s slate of 29 webinars, which are free to registrants, half price for Friends of NRRTS and $45 for everyone else, run the gamut from “Medicare Regulation and Policies: Insidious Ways to Access to CRT is Denied” to “Post-Election Analysis: Impact on CRT Access” to “Community Mobility: Shifting Perspectives on Mobility, Technology and Interdependence.”

“Like anyone, we want timely topics,” said Michelle Lange, curriculum coordinator for NRRTS’s education and the clinical editor of its Directions Magazine.

NRRTS has put in a lot of work in the past few years to elevate its education, including becoming accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and featuring CEU articles in Directions six times a year.

“NRRTS is committed to providing good education,” Lange said, “not just so (registrants and clinicians) can get their CEUs but so they can truly serve their clients better and have the tools they need. The role of NRRTS is to raise the bar of suppliers in all areas, whether it’s ethics or technology or policy. That’s what we’re behind.” hme