Recognition by healthcare professionals

First Aid & CPR Illinois

In health care, keeping standards of care high is what protects the public. For registered nurses in Illinois, continuing education is a condition of licence renewal; for the care roles around them, a CPR-certified staff member must be awake and on duty at all times. 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

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), through its Board of Nursing, makes continuing education a condition of licence renewal, so that nurses keep their knowledge and skills current. The activities chosen must be relevant to safe practice.

The nursing standard of care also carries a professional duty to maintain competence and to be able to respond in an emergency, including initiating resuscitation. A recognized, documented certificate is the practical way to evidence that a nurse can act when it counts.

The IDFPR requires 20 contact hours per two-year renewal. ACLS/PALS from an accredited provider can be applied toward the 20-hour requirement, though a CPR card itself is not required to renew.

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 Illinois, these are the criteria the IDFPR Board of Nursing applies 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.

Illinois is specific for support staff. Under 77 Ill. Adm. Code 690, an assisted living establishment must have at all times at least one direct-care staff person who is CPR-certified, awake, and on duty. Where the role requires such a certificate in addition to occupational training, a recognized standalone certificate meets that requirement — and must be kept current and verifiable.

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.