What is the quickest specialty certification out there?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hey everyone,

I see that a lot of the specialty certifications out there require 2 years+ experience or so many hours or whatever. I'm wondering what certification out there is the quickest to get? Anyone know? The quickest I've seen is wound care I think...

Any insight would be great! Many thanks!

Specializes in ICU.

To sit for the CBIS exam all you need is 500 hours of working with brain injury patients, which is a lot fewer hours than some other certifications. I was going to sit for it as a CNA (it's multidisciplinary and doesn't just apply to RNs) but my employer stopped paying for the exam. It's like $350 and I couldn't afford it at the time. Not getting it before I left inpatient rehab when I was eligible to sit for it is one of the few things I regret about leaving that job.

I'd love to be certified in a lot of areas. I don't think that it does the profession a disservice. I personally really enjoy learning new things and having proof that I learned them, which is essentially what a certification is. Only learning about things you specialize in doesn't make your knowledge base very broad, IMO. If you want to just learn about one particular thing that's awesome, but I resent the people here who are saying there's no point in getting a certification just to get it. The pursuit of knowledge and validation is enough of a reason for me.

I get that's not the reason OP's wanting more certifications, but it will be my reason.

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

OP, from your later post in this thread, I get that you have an immigration issue looming over your head. That is a hard road to be on, and I'm sorry for your troubles.

But please understand where we're coming from: lots of nurses, even brand new grads with zero work experience, post here about piling up specialty certifications like candy ... with the expectation that this makes them more attractive candidates for a particular job. And it generally just doesn't. While it shows a certain amount of initiative, passing a test without relevant experience in that specialty achieved over a period of time just doesn't mean much. It certainly does not indicate you have *expert* knowledge in that specialty.

Your first post did not indicate your immigration issue, and so sounded like yet another "how many meaningless certifications can I pile up" question.

Wishing you well.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

^^ I agree ^^ Had you posted your REASON for needing a cert so quickly, you would likely not have gotten the responses you did.

And as the AP states, there are a HUGE number of the "I'm a new grad hoping to land a job in ABC- would getting my ABC cert help me?" posts.

I'm curious about why immigration issues might 'require' a nursing certification, though. Can you enlighten us all?

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Well it is helpful to have the whole story. Good luck.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

Taking a certification exam is not just proof you learned something. It's proof that you possess more than just the basic knowledge and skills of a particular specialty. When you present yourself to patients and colleagues with a certification, they're going to expect something more from you.

Just because someone has a certification in a particular specialty does not mean he/she is not learning about things outside his/her specialty. I have plenty of CEUs on topics that have nothing to do with my specialty.

There's a reason why most certifications strongly suggest/require a certain number of clinical hours in a specialty to qualify for the certification exam.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

OP, what area are you working in right now? Can't you work on getting a certification in that area?

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
OP, from your later post in this thread, I get that you have an immigration issue looming over your head. That is a hard road to be on, and I'm sorry for your troubles.

But please understand where we're coming from: lots of nurses, even brand new grads with zero work experience, post here about piling up specialty certifications like candy ... with the expectation that this makes them more attractive candidates for a particular job. And it generally just doesn't. While it shows a certain amount of initiative, passing a test without relevant experience in that specialty achieved over a period of time just doesn't mean much. It certainly does not indicate you have *expert* knowledge in that specialty.

Your first post did not indicate your immigration issue, and so sounded like yet another "how many meaningless certifications can I pile up" question.

Wishing you well.

This. Well SAID :yes:

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Specializes in Psychiatry.

I agree with OCNRN.. I work in hospice, and needed 2 years of hospice experience to have a shot of passing my hospice certification exam. It was a tough exam but I passed it.

That being said, I encourage you to find your area of interest and specifically focus on THAT area, this will help you become more knowledgable in your field. It seems it may be easier to pass your certification exam as well, because you have an INTEREST in that area.

I know with oncology cert you need experience too... I believe this one to be challenging as well.

All the best to you, in whatever you may decide to do.

Diane

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

I took the hospice cert years ago when I worked in hospice. It was a very challenging exam. I really sweated it out till I got my letter in the mail.

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Specializes in Psychiatry.

I took mine about 2 years ago. Of course, now they are computer scored so you know right away.

Yes, it was hard, especially the conversion rate from one opioid to another!

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Specializes in geriatrics.

At the moment, I have certification in geriatrics and I'm preparing for the national Geriatrics Nsg exam certification. However, I've worked with geriatric patients for three years and I plan to continue with geriatrics. The population is aging.

As mentioned, choose something you enjoy that you already have a working knowlege of. Certification makes no sense otherwise. For example, I have no interest working with pediatrics. Therefore, I would never enroll in a peds course or accept a job in peds.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
I took mine about 2 years ago. Of course, now they are computer scored so you know right away.

Yes, it was hard, especially the conversion rate from one opioid to another!

It is nice to have them computerized. It was sort of surreal taking the OCN exam and finding out right away that I'd passed.

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