Fall, 2015
BONENT Adds Two New Exams
First Time in 20 Years!
BONENT certification last for 4 years. Don’t wait until the last minute to start collecting continuing education. Plan to obtain at least 10 CEs per year. Nephrology seminars, conferences and meetings are held around the country each year.
In addition, there are many online programs that offer continuing education. If you’re not sure where to get CEs, BONENT can help. Visit the “Recertification” and “BONENT Continuing Education” sections of the website for suggestions: sources of CE, conference calendar, BONENT Approved CE Programs and BONENT seminars.
Do I Need to Pay My Annual Fees Every Year?
We all know that you need 40 hours of continuing education to recertify. But, did you know, it’s also important to pay the Annual Certification fee to keep your certification up-to-date? Now that certification is mandatory across the US, companies must verify each employee’s certification. If you have outstanding fees, your certification cannot be verified to your employer. You can log into the “My Info” section of the BONENT website to view your status and pay any fees. Keep your fees up-to-date to avoid a delay with recertification.
Network 9/10 Partners with BONENT for Mid-West Seminar
This has been a big year for BONENT - maybe the biggest! We have 2 new exams to raise our total number of exams from 3 to 5. It has been over 20 years since BONENT has added an exam. In 2015, we added two, very needed, new exams.
#1: Certified Hemodialysis Bio-Medical Technician (CHBT)
The first new exam is the Certified Hemodialysis Bio-Medical Technician (CHBT). Since the CMS required certification for patient care technician certification, most dialysis providers have been discussing having their Bio-Med Technicians become certified. BONENT, having heard the discussion in the industry, decided a couple years ago to develop the CHBT certification. Dennis Schell, BONENT Board Director, took on this task and with help of leading Bio-Med techs including Byron Roshto and Ed Castroverde. It was a long process to develop a completely new and valid exam. But after nearly 2 years, the exam was released and first administered in Ohio in the spring of 2015. The CHBT exam is available at all computer-based sites and all paper/pencil sites.
So, if you know of any Bio-Med tech that wants to validate their knowledge by becoming certified, the BONENT CHBT is exactly what they need. It can be taken on-site or computer based at sites throughout the country.
The second new exam is the Spanish language CHT. BONENT recognize that there are a large number of patient care technicians that speak Spanish as their first language and would be more comfortable taking the CHT in Spanish. We, also, recognized that there are a huge number of technicians in Latin America that would benefit from this. Lyle Smith, as the Chair of the Exam Committee, led this project.
We went to a well-known translation company to have the exam and the accompanying document translated into Spanish. We, then, had a number of Spanish speaking CHT members go over the exam to ensure that none of the meaning was lost in translation. We had numerous dialects represented in this group including Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban and Latin American.
The first administration of this new exam took place on September 26 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The Spanish language CHT is available only at specialized paper/pencil sites due to the need for Spanish speaking proctors. In the near future, the Spanish CHT will be available at most computer based sites. Our website is the best place to keep track of these updates.
3 Regional Seminars Held This Year
We had a great year of BONENT Regional Education Seminars led by Chair Lyle Smith and John Larsen of the Continuing Education Committee. We would like to thank Cyrolife and Pentec for their support and for providing speakers. We have begun partnering with the Renal Networks on these seminars, including Network 9/10. As always, these have excellent events and a great chance to network with other dialysis professionals. They have put together some of the best 1-day programs in the country. Excellent speakers. Excellent venues. Excellent management. In 2015, we had BONENT Regional Seminars in Houston, Indianapolis and Florida.
Did You Attend Any of Our Seminars This Year?
The biggest issue we’ve had is getting enough attendees. These seminar are so good that it is a shame that we cannot get people out to them. We reduced the price hoping to get more people participating. BONENT Regional Seminars are not just for BONENT members. They are for everyone that takes care of dialysis patients - nurses, technicians, dietitians, administrators, etc. If you have any ideas on how to reach more people, contact Lyle Smith at lyle_bonent@msn.com.
I would like to wish you all the best in the upcoming holiday season.
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