Contact Hours Versus Continuing Education Units - Brief Article

AORN Journal, March, 2000

The definitions of contact hours and continuing education units (CEUs)--and the difference between the two--often are misunderstood. Although the terms seem interchangeable, they have different meanings.

Several years ago, the nursing community and the American Nurses Credentialing Center's (ANCC) Commission on Accreditation decided to use the term contact hour rather than CEU because of the confusion between the two measurement systems. As AORN is accredited by ANCC, AORN uses contact hours as its measurement of continuing education.

One contact hour of continuing education is equal to 50 minutes of learning activity. The medical community and many other disciplines use the term CEU. One CEU is equal to 10 ANCC contact hours, or one ANCC contact hour is equal to. 1 CEU. Confusion can occur if, for example, an organization mistakenly advertises one CEU at a cost of $50, while meaning to advertise one contact hour. Participants may pay the $50 and expect to earn 10 contact hours, yet receive only one contact hour. Knowing whether the continuing education accreditation is from the ANCC or medical continuing education can eliminate any confusion when reviewing an advertisement.