The Emergency Nurses Association developed and implemented the TNCC for national and international dissemination as a means of identifying a standardized body of trauma nursing knowledge.

The TNCC (Provider) course is a 16- or 20-hour course designed to provide the learner with cognitive knowledge and psychomotor skills. Nurses with limited emergency nursing clinical experience, who work in a hospital with limited access to trauma patients, or who need greater time at the psychomotor skill stations are encouraged to attend courses scheduled for the 20-hour format.

The TNCC (Instructor) course is an 8-hour course designed to prepare nurses to become TNCC (Provider) Instructors. The nurse must have successfully completed the provider course prior to attending the Instructor course. The Instructor course emphasizes appropriate teaching strategies as well as correct evaluation methods.