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	Completing the Extended CV
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How to Join

Individual Founding Membership:
Individual Founding Membership (IFM) is the first part of the accreditation process to joining FEN. IFM is achieved by successfully submitting an Extended Curriculum Vitae.

How IFM differs from Full Membership – via portfolio:
A Full member of FEN will be achieved when you are in a position to submit your portfolio of evidence, in which you are supplying evidence of achievement against the core and specific competencies. If you look in ‘Accreditation Process you will be see a simple diagram of the whole process which includes the levels of membership with associated timeframes for submission.

The Extended CV application process:
The FEN Board understands there is a time commitment in order to complete the Extended CV and apply for membership but we also know an urban myth exists that the Extended CV process is a major undertaking, a long and laborious process; in fact this could not be further from the truth. The Extended CV requires you to complete short statements about a subject you know most about, YOU! The purpose of the following information is to provide you with all the details, and encouragement, you will need to finally complete the process.

Getting started
To assist you with gaining Individual Founding Membership (IFM) a range of information has been compiled which is designed to demystify and clearly reveal the application process. There are three different levels of IFM designed to reflect the various stages of experience represented by emergency nurses

Level	Definition
Associate	Competent emergency nurse who delivers evidence based practice to patients presenting with complaints, working under the direct guidance of a proficient emergency nurse.
Member	Proficient emergency nurse who delivers evidence based care under minimal guidance with peer support.
Fellow	Expert emergency nurse who draws on a large knowledge base and contributes to the development of new evidence based of emergency practice, working without supervision in any care setting.

Identifying your level of IFM:
Each level of membership has a Self-assessment tool which contains the ‘Practice Descriptors’, determining each level of Individual Founding Membership; Associate, Member and Fellow.

Appendix 2: Self assessment tools

The first thing to do is look at the practice descriptors then decide which set of statements best describes your level of practice. Next, using your identified level, complete the self assessment tool, using the practice descriptors, for the level you have chosen:

Read each of the practice level descriptors and tick either Yes or No to indicate if it describes your level of ability

If you answer “Yes” to all of the statements you have selected your level of practice. Before you move on to complete your extended CV it is worth repeating this exercise with the next level of descriptors to be absolutely sure you have set yourself at the correct level of membership.

Remember this is your current level of practice, what you are achieving today, not what you aspire to be in the next year or two.