Not qualified for CCRN will CMC certificate work?

Specialties CCU

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Hi All,

Our critical access hospital is trying to get us a better knowledge base. I plan on getting med-surg board certified this year. They received funding for CCRN webinars but we will not be justified for the certificate. Could CMC certificate be possible after receiving Med-Surg BC? What I read on AACN is for the telemetry population and it could work for our small hospital? Any thoughts?

Kind Regards,

Anna

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Specializes in ICU/CCU/CVICU.

I believe you need to have your CCRN or other clinical nursing specialty (such as PCCN, etc) in order to get a subspecialty certification such as the CSC or CMC. I think that is what you're asking anyway. Your post is a little unclear. If you go on the AACN website it will state the requirements to be able to sit for the CCRN and CMC exams.

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Specializes in CVICU.

You should be able to as long as you truly work on a telemetry floor. Go to the aacn website and look at the cmc handbook. If you still aren't sure just call the aacn and ask them.

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Thank you for the replies. I will call AACN this next week and find out. It would be wonderful if we all could qualify since we have such a mixed population of patients. Sometimes when I am charge I have to watch the monitors for all patients on the floor. I am still excited taking the CCRN series even though we won't qualify for a small hospital.

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Why do you state that you will not be "justified for the certificate?" The only requirement listed in the CCRN/PCCN Exam Handbook is the requirement for:

Practice as an RN or APRN is required for 1,750 hours in direct bedside care of acutely and/or critically ill patients during the previous 2 years, with 875 of those hours accrued in the most recent year preceding application. Eligible hours are those spent caring for the patient population (adult, pediatric or neonatal) of the exam for which you are applying.

The AACN no longer lists skills or experiences, outside of the required bedside hours, for eligibility.

However, if you don't believe that your patient population fits this requirement, The PCCN specialty certification "was introduced in 2004 for progressive care nurses providing care to acutely ill adult patients" might be a better fit. The CCRN/PCCN Exam Handbook describes the PCCN practice requirement as:

Practice as an RN or APRN is required for 1,750 hours in direct bedside care of acutely ill adult patients during the previous 2 years, with 875 of those hours accrued in the most recent year preceding application.

Both the CMC and CSC certifications are very specific to cardiac medicine or surgery. You might qualify for the CMC, but it is doubtful from your practice description that you would meet the practice requirements for the CSC. If you have not yet done so, you might review the CMC/SCS Exam Handbook for specifics.

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Specializes in CTICU.

CMC and CSC are subspecialty exams for people who are already certified in CCRN/PCCN. If you do telemetry you should be qualified if you meet the practice hour requirement to sit for PCCN if you don't work in a critical care unit.

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CMC and CSC are subspecialty exams for people who are already certified in CCRN/PCCN. If you do telemetry you should be qualified if you meet the practice hour requirement to sit for PCCN if you don't work in a critical care unit.

Thank you for clarifying. I should have included that the OP might be eligible to add the CMC sub-specialty certification to the RM-BC certification, if he or she opts for that certification.

While I agree that the PCCN might be a better fit for the OP, the AACN removed specific practice requirements several years ago. The only requirement for CCRN is 1750 hours of bedside care of the "acutely and/or critically patient" over the past two years, with 875 hours during the last year.

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As stated above you need to have your CCRN or PCCN in order to have the CMC/CSC certification

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I am hoping upper management will consider PCCN then. We are a small hospital with 21 beds and we are assigned telemetry patients often. Thank you for the replies.

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Specializes in CVICU, CCU, Heart Transplant.
CMC and CSC are subspecialty exams for people who are already certified in CCRN/PCCN. If you do telemetry you should be qualified if you meet the practice hour requirement to sit for PCCN if you don't work in a critical care unit.

This is taken directly from the AACN website:

"...[Requirements for CMC subspecialty certification include] A current, nationally accredited NCCA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies) or ABNS (American Board of Nursing Specialties) clinical nursing specialty certification, to which your subspecialty certification will be attached, is required. A clinical nursing specialty certification refers to a certification that involves direct care of the patient, such as CCRN, PCCN, CCNS, ACNPC, CEN, CRNFA, APRN-BC, ACNP-BC, etc."

http://www.aacn.org/wd/certifications/content/initial-cmc-certification.pcms?menu=certification#Initial_Eligibility_Requirements

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Specializes in CVICU, CCU, Heart Transplant.
CMC and CSC are subspecialty exams for people who are already certified in CCRN/PCCN. If you do telemetry you should be qualified if you meet the practice hour requirement to sit for PCCN if you don't work in a critical care unit.

As stated above you need to have your CCRN or PCCN in order to have the CMC/CSC certification

This is taken directly from the AACN website:

"...[Requirements for CMC subspecialty certification include] A current, nationally accredited NCCA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies) or ABNS (American Board of Nursing Specialties) clinical nursing specialty certification, to which your subspecialty certification will be attached, is required. A clinical nursing specialty certification refers to a certification that involves direct care of the patient, such as CCRN, PCCN, CCNS, ACNPC, CEN, CRNFA, APRN-BC, ACNP-BC, etc."

http://www.aacn.org/wd/certifications/content/initial-cmc-certification.pcms?menu=certification#Initial_Eligibility_Requirements

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