Q. Is everyone on the stroke unit and team required to complete eight hours of continuing education units (CEUs) on an annual basis?

A. Eight hours of continuing education units are NOT required for the stroke unit staff and the multi-disciplinary team members who may be providing care to stroke patients.

Eight hours of annual stroke specific continuing education is REQUIRED for the staff who comprise the CORE stroke team. The team may be limited to one physician stroke champion, and a nurse coordinator or it may be larger and multi-disciplinary team.  DF.1 requires at least 80% of the Emergency Department staff is required to have knowledge of the stroke pathophysiology, presentation, assessment, diagnosis and treatment including thrombolytic therapy.  The staff who routinely provide direct care to the stroke patient such as critical care, neurology unit and step-down unit should receive stroke education, but not necessarily eight hours annually.  The organization determines the appropriate amount of stroke education to provide based upon the care provider’s level of responsibility and what is needed to ensure competence.  Nurses on non-stroke units, where stroke patients are not routinely cared for, and ancillary staff should receive education related to recognition of stroke signs and symptoms and activation of the organization’s emergency response processes.