Virtual Certificate I/DD Training Program for Nurses

Project Description

With guidance and input from expert nurses and intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) consumers, the Virtual Certificate I/DD Training Program for Nurses offers comprehensive instructional content on the healthcare needs of adults with I/DD. This training program is based on the American Nurses Association’s 2022 Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, 3rd Edition, and is funded by the WITH Foundation to improve the health outcomes of adults with I/DD. The Virtual Certificate I/DD Training Program for Nurses is available to beginner, intermediate, and advanced-level nurses in practice. Certificates will be awarded to nurses upon completion of the program.

Goals of the Program:

The goal of the Virtual Certificate I/DD Training Program for Nurses is to improve healthcare service delivery by enhancing frontline nurses’ I/DD knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy in clinical and community-based settings. This program aims to improve nurses’ competency and supported decision-making skills, enhance I/DD advocacy and care coordination innovations, integrate cultural humility, identify and address issues/barriers to high-quality healthcare, and hire a program staff member with I/DD.

Accessibility of the Program:

• Available primarily to nurses in California
• Registration is free
• Flexible schedule/asynchronous learning

Focus Areas:

• I/DD Knowledge (personal - nurse AND community)
  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Theories and Models of Disability
  • I/DD Diagnosis and Treatment
  • Self-Advocacy and Leadership
• I/DD Skills (personal - nurse)
  • Person-Centered Care
  • Circles of Support
  • Maternal and Child Health Competencies
  • Self-Advocacy and Leadership
• I/DD Self-efficacy in Clinical and Community-based Settings (personal - nurse AND community)
  • I/DD Healthcare
  • Interdisciplinary Services and Care Coordination 2
  • Home Health Nursing
  • Self-Advocacy and Leadership

Based on the 17 Standards of Practice for IDD Nurses (Source: American Nurses Association. (2022). Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, 3rd Edition):

Standard 1: Assessment

Standard 2: Diagnosis

Standard 3: Outcomes Identification

Standard 4: Planning

Standard 5: Implementation Standard 5A: Coordination of Care

Standard 5B: Health Teaching and Health Promotion

Standard 6: Evaluation

Standard 7: Ethics

Standard 8: Culturally Congruent Practice

Standard 9: Communication

Standard 10: Collaboration

Standard 11: Leadership

Standard 12: Education

Standard 13: Evidence-Based Practice and Research

Standard 14: Quality of Practice

Standard 15: Professional Practice Evaluation

Standard 16: Resource Utilization

Standard 17: Environmental Health

Additional Information

• Funding Source: WITH Foundation
  
  
• Project Duration: This program is available indefinitely and accessible to nurses in and outside of California.
  
  
• Collaborative Work: This program is a collaboration with I/DD nurse leaders who are affiliated with LEND, AUCD, UCEDD, and MCHB programs in the United States

Collaborators:

Serge’ R. Nelson, DNP, MPH, NEA-BC

Cindy Hill DNP RN CPN CNE

Régine P. Reaves, Ph.D., MSN, RN, MPH

Mark J. Fisher, PhD, RN, CNE

J. Carolyn Graff, Ph.D., RN, FAAIDD

Who to Contact:

Principal Investigator: Cecily Betz, PhD, RN: cbetz@chla.usc.edu 

Publications:

Fisher, M. J., Graff, J. C., Hill, C., LaMothe, J., Nelson, S. R., Kent, K. A., & Betz, C. L. (2025). Innovating nursing education through partnership with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Journal of nursing education, 64(2), 75–80. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20240923-03

Mirzaian, C.B., Smith, R., Porter, C., de la Loza, G., Betz, C.L. (2025). Peer navigator employment training program: A health care transition service-training model. Medical research archives, [online] 13(3). https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v13i3.6446

Mirzaian, C. B., Deavenport-Saman, A., Hudson, S., & Betz, C. L. (2024). Health care transition recommendations for young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health conditions: Stakeholder survey findings. Health care transitions, 2, 100075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hctj.2024.100075

Mirzaian, C. B., Deavenport-Saman, A., Hudson, S. M., & Betz, C. L. (2024). Barriers to mental health care transition for youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health conditions: Stakeholders' perspectives. Community mental health journal, 60(6), 1104–1116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-024-01262-x

Betz C. L. (2023). Health care transition planning for adolescents and emerging adults with intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities: Distinctions and challenges. Journal for specialists in pediatric nursing: JSPN, 28(3), e12415. https://doi.org/10.1111/jspn.12415

Carolyn Graff, J., Fisher, M., Hill, L., Reaves, R. P., Nelson, S. R., & Betz, C. L. (2022). Closing the nursing leadership gap: Leveraging partnerships with people with intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities. Nursing outlook, 70(6), 783–785. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2022.07.009

Betz, C.L., Adams, J., Burkett, K.W., Chouteau, W., Conley, L.A., del Rosario, E., Farley, J., Feeg, V., Fleming, L., Franklin, M.S., Graff, J.C., Krajicek, M., Kronk, R., Minchella, L., Moore, S.D., Nehring, W.M., Savage, T., Tran, N., Van Cleve, S. Intellectual and developmental disabilities nursing: Scope and standards of practice (3rd ed.). American Nurses Association. ISBN: 9781947800892, 2022.