Is there any weight to MDS "certification?"

I'm not an mds coordinator, but I've been interested in learning and perhaps landing a mds coordinator position somewhere one of these days. The current mds coordinator where I work is always more than willing to let me help her with summaries, updating careplans and gathering information and entering it on the computer. I'm still fuzzy on RAPS and RUG levels but I'm excited about learning. I was thinking about going to one of these 3-day mds certification workshops.I mentioned it to one of my fellow nurses (who isn't known for being exactly positive in the first place) and she says that sounds stupid, because you don't need a certification to be a mds coordinator in the first place, and anyway, Nurse Goodbody won't be leaving her mds coordinator position until they carry her stiff body out of that office, which probably won't be for at least another 160 yrs.. I'm not out to take her job, but that's another topic.

Anyway, the workshop isn't cheap and I'm not sure if it is for people who already have a pretty good grasp on the mds specialty or if the info. would be tailored to newbies.

And does the certification really carry much weight?