Certified Nurses

[JSBoston]

I have been having SUCH a hard time finding information on becoming certified as a nurse with the requirements for applying and sitting for the exam, it's driving me crazy! I believe many who are certified go through ANCC, so I hope some of you know what I'm talking about. I've spent about 2 hours searching for answers and even called the ANCC but they were closed.

My question:

To sit for the exam, you need "30 Continuing Education Hours".

Are "Continuing Education Hours"... CEU's or Contact Hours? I know that 10 contact hours is = to 1 CEU.

For those who are certified... how long did it take you to complete all of the continuing education hours to qualify? If I need 30 CEU's, it'll take forever! :)

Thank you!

[JSBoston]

I haven't updated my little profile thing, and I have closer to 3.5 yrs in ltac and acute care experience... and I've always wanted to become certified! I just recently really started looking into it, and was just pretty confused on the whole CEU/Contact hour thing... the difference is 30 to 300 contact hours!

It just seems wayyy overwhelming. and a bit of a bummer, because I feel knowledgeable enough to start preparing for the exam, but regretting I didn't start all of the specific CEU's earlier. I am prepared to start all of the work of course, I just didn't realize how many I'd need.

It's really nice to hear others have done it, and all of those CEU's are doable. I suppose a few each week wouldn't seem like so much.

Mommy&RN... I was looking through the ANCC website and wasn't able to find any study guides... do you have a link? it should be the same for all of the specialties once I see where one is.

[Mommy&RN, BSN, RN]

Which cert do you want to sit for?

[Mommy&RN, BSN, RN]

http://www.nursecredentialing.org/GeroManual.aspx

For geri nursing

[JSBoston]

I want to sit for the pain management certification exam... I saw the manuals and they are about 27 contact hours... so 2.7 CEU's. It just seems like attempting 300 contact hours for a pain certification could have a whoooole lotta repetition :) I think that I am quite experienced in pain management and I think it will really help my future career goals.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

What are the pain management cert's requirements for how long you work directly w/pain management, before you are eligible to take the test? And, what do they consider direct pain management care? (and yes- pain management will be good for any area of nursing).

Have you sent for the info from the pain management cert organization? You may see the different info re: diagnoses, and types of pain, appropriate alternative vs medical interventions for EACH diagnosis, etc. It's not just acute vs chronic, muscle, nerve, bone, etc.... there are a LOT of combinations of pain/acute vs chronic/diagnoses..... :)

[SnowShoeRN]

Hi Julie.

I was dealing with the same sort of issues last year (do I really need THREE HUNDRED HOURS!?), except I'm going to be sitting this fall to take the exam to be certified in cardiac vascular nursing. The woman I spoke with at the ANCC (this was about a year ago) said that 30 contact hours was sufficient and that you also need to meet all the other requirements re years of experience in your field and stuff like that.

It took me about a year to accumulate every contact hour relevant to cardiac vascular nursing (I joined nursingspectrum.com's unlimited CEU's deal) and I've been studying from the ANCC manual for cardiac vascular nursing for the past 4 months or so.

Additionally, I joined the ANA because not only does it look good professionally, but you do get a bit of a discount on the cost of the exam if you belong to a professional organization. Not to mention the networking opportunities, etc.

I wouldn't take my word as gospel (definitely call the ANCC again to ask), but that's what I was told. Goodluck!

-Snow

[llg, PhD, RN]

I certified last year. 30 contact hours.

I got 10 (or was it 15?) contact hours from just reading the review book and answering a post test. I did that over a single weekend. I had plenty of other hours because I generally stay up-to-date in my field by going to a conference every couple of years.