How to Advance Your Career as a Nurse Assessment Coordinator (NAC) – Part Three: Proficient Level

Long-term care nurses who follow the path of becoming nurse assessment coordinators (NACs) can advance their careers and skill levels through experience and gained knowledge over time. At every stage of professional development, NACs can take steps to boost their knowledge and access AAPACN resources for success.

Part three of this blog series will focus on tips for proficient NACs with at least two years of experience and how to advance their careers. Review part one and part two of this series on the AAPACN website.

Tips for the Proficient NAC

For proficient NACs, some of the top tips to advance their careers include:

• Consider an advanced certification – Proficient NACs typically have the knowledge and skills to work toward an advanced certification. An advanced certification offers the opportunity for these NACs to become true leaders and continue to grow by diving into more complex areas of the job.  
  • AAPACN’s Resident Assessment Coordinator – Certified Advanced (RAC-CTA®) certification provides advanced principles of clinical reimbursement, Medicare program compliance and integrity, RAI/MDS program integrity, leadership, ethical practice, managing medical review, accurate ICD-10 diagnosis coding, advanced strategies for payment oversight, and improving a facility’s quality measurement in all CMS quality programs.
  
  
  • AAPACN’s QAPI Certified Professional (QCP®) certification is intended for members of the Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI)/Quality Assessment and Assurance (QAA) committee and covers all aspects of QAPI from theory to application-based strategies. Learn how to translate data into actionable information and drive performance improvement. Note: AAPACN is celebrating QCP’s 10-year anniversary!
  
  Not sure if you are ready? Take the “AAPACN Education Guide: Where Should I Start?” quiz, review the RAC-CTA and QCP Candidate Handbooks, and test your knowledge by taking the NAC Competency Evaluation.
  
  
• The proficient NAC should challenge themselves with an advanced course or by helping answer questions from peers.
  
  
  • Targeted Probe and Educate Reviewis an on-demand workshop that offers comprehensive insights into the Traditional TPE and the SNF 5-Claim Probe and Education Review processes, detailing what to expect and how to navigate them effectively. NACs will learn best practices and how to avoid common pitfalls, plus they will gain access to valuable resources including a TPE Quick Guide PDF.
  
  
  • Answer questions in AAPACN’s MDS General Discussion Community – Proficient NACs have the opportunity to grow by helping their peers. The more frequently that proficient NACs answer questions, the more confidence they will build in their knowledge. Responses may end up being published in AAPACN’s Leader for the NAC newsletter, too!
  
  
• Become involved in Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) and auditing. AAPACN’sQAPI Focus: Section GG tool can assist proficient NACs to focus specifically on concerns regarding section GG documentation and coding accuracy in the QAPI meeting.
  
• Assist with interpreting the iQIES reports. AAPACN’s Quick Guide to the SNF QRP iQIES Report: Resident-Level QM Reporttool offers detailed information on how to interpret the SNF QRP Resident-Level Report for each MDS-based measure. In addition, AAPACN’s MDS 3.0 Final Validation Quick Facts and Resources tool can help proficient NACs answer key questions on what information the Final Validation Report provides and how NACs need to respond to the fatal and non-fatal error messages.
  
• Finesse the MDS schedule to manage the workload (e.g., so there are not 20 assessments one week and five the next). AAPACN offers two great tools to assist NACs with scheduling OBRA assessments, the Static OBRA Scheduling Tool and the Interactive OBRA Scheduling Tool, both of which can be found here.  
  
• Become knowledgeable in case management for Medicare as well as Medicaid as needed and be able to analyze the need for an Interim Payment Assessment (IPA). AAPACN offers the IPA Quick Calculators – Urban and Rural tool can help proficient NACs analyze the changes in HIPPS codes, case-mix groups, case-mix indexes, and rates. Two tools are available—one for facilities that use the urban federal base rates and another for rural base rates. The tools are also available for both fiscal year (FY) 2025 (Oct. 1, 2024 – Sept. 30, 2025) and FY 2026 (Oct. 1, 2025 – Sept. 30, 2026).
  
• Proficient NACs should also take a more active role in Triple Check. Utilize AAPACN’s NAC Preparation Guide for the Triple Check Meeting tool to stay organized and ensure all requirements of Medicare billing are in place prior to submission.
  
• Actively participate in Five-Star and Quality Measures (QMs). Proficient NACs can utilize the following AAPACN tools to assist with this process:
  
  
  • Five-Star and Care Compare MDS 3.0 Quality Measure Data Periods
  
  
  • At-a-Glance QM, QRP, and VBP Tool
  
  
  • When MDS 3.0 Quality Measure Triggers Start and Stop
  
  
  • Five-Star Staffing Measures Scoring and Methodology Tool
  
  
• Attend virtual and in-person conferences. AAPACN offers several conferences to further the proficient NAC’s expertise:
  
  
  • 2026 AAPACN Conference – Save the date! AAPACN’s annual conference will be held March 17 – 20, 2026 in Orlando, FL. Registration will open soon!
  
  
  • Quality Virtual Conference – AAPACN hosts a Quality Virtual Conference each year to further the team’s knowledge of improving quality at multiple levels. The AAPACN 2025 Quality Virtual Conference Recording Bundle allows learners to select what track best fits their level of expertise—novice, intermediate, or expert.  

AAPACN also offers additional guides for proficient NACs to help them improve key areas of their job, such as:

• GG Driver’s Manual – this 61-page guide is designed to support the role of the section GG leader in the facility. This downloadable PDF navigates through management of the GG process, including strategies for successful section GG documentation, audits for section GG MDS coding, a functional systems audit, and a template for determining usual performance.  
  
• Quality Measures Rescue Guide – this guide assists facility leaders in reviewing and improving their facility’s Quality Measures (QMs). This downloadable PDF guide provides an overview of QMs, including how they are measured and how to review each measure from a clinician’s standpoint, and steps to improve outcomes.
  
• Interrupted Stay Policy FAQs and Resources – this guide answers 24 of the most inquired-about questions and explains different scenarios to help the nurse assessment coordinator (NAC) and the biller understand the nuances of the interrupted stay policy. This comprehensive guide also includes references to CMS regulations, additional AAPACN resources, and many examples to help demystify the interrupted stay policy.
  
• PDPM Game Plan – this guide helps NACs and facility staff improve their confidence in managing PDPM with 80+ pages of interactive, downloadable tools, checklists, and resources all in one convenient PDF resource.

Note: The Learning Timeline for AAPACN Education and Resources has been updated! Explore the education tracks divided into four levels of expertise—Novice, Competent, Proficient, Expert (and see subsequent pages for timelines for different roles such as director of nursing services, nursing home administrator, therapist, and interdisciplinary team (IDT) member), as well as the additional products and resources to plan your next professional development goal!