Nemours Children's Health Content Validity Guidelines

Nemours complies with the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education which have been adopted by multiple accrediting bodies representing multiple health professions including the Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Continuing Education™, Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Anyone in control of Nemours accredited content, including planners and faculty, have a shared responsibility with Nemours Continuing Education staff to uphold these standards. Activity planners and faculty must comply with Nemours Continuing Education procedures, requests from Nemours Continuing Education staff, and the guidelines listed below to ensure content is valid.

1. Evidence-Based Recommendations: At Nemours, all recommendations for patient care in our continuing education programs are accurate, balanced, and scientifically justified. We ensure a fair and balanced view of diagnostic and therapeutic options is presented. This is achieved through rigorous review of the latest research and consensus guidelines, and by inviting faculty who are identified as subject matter experts in the field. Subject matter experts impact content validity by providing clinical relevance, valuable insights, and foster a deeper understanding of the presented content. Expert faculty also ensure that new and evolving topics can be discussed in continuing education without advocating or promoting practices that are not adequately based on current science.
2. Adherence to Scientific Standards: All scientific research referred to, reported, or used in our education to support or justify a patient care recommendation conforms to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation. We ensure this by only referencing studies published in reputable, peer-reviewed journals and by providing training to our educators on how to appraise research critically.
3. Exploration of New and Evolving Topics: Our continuing education is an appropriate place to discuss, debate, and explore new and evolving topics. These areas are clearly identified within the program and individual presentations. We facilitate engagement with these topics without advocating for, or promoting practices that are not, or not yet adequately based on current science, evidence, and clinical reasoning. This is achieved by fostering an environment of open discussion and critical thinking, and by clearly labeling unproven methods as experimental or theoretical.
4. Avoidance of Unscientific Approaches: Nemours does not advocate for unscientific approaches to diagnosis or therapy. We do not promote recommendations, treatments, or manners of practicing healthcare that are determined to have risks or dangers that outweigh the benefits or are known to be ineffective in the treatment of patients. This is ensured through a strict review process for all educational content and a commitment to uphold the highest standards of medical ethics.

If you have any questions, please contact a Continuing Education staff member.