Specialty Certification Champions??

This may sound rather mercenary but I think that offering a certification differential might encourage nurses who may have seen certification as "just another piece of useless paper" to think differently.

Let's face it---it's not an inexpensive venture to obtain and maintain a certification. It's something facilities often desire their nurses to have (looks good for PR and if they're going for Magnet status) but there seems to be very little reward for doing so, IME. Yes, personal satisfaction is one thing but I've seen nurses obtain certification and then let it go because there simply is not a real big incentive to keep paying for something that doesn't seem to mean a heckuva lot.

I've had my CCRN for many years and wouldn't let it go simply because I worked so hard for it. If I was strapped for cash, though, I might have to think twice about laying out the money for the mandatory CEU's and the renewal fees.

A certification does look good on a resume.

Nurses on clinical ladder in our facility get extra points for being certified. Points equals extra $

One of my colleagues and I are trying to implement a certification program here at our hospital. Unfortunately there is no monetary compensation (direct) for certification but I am sure that when evaluation time comes that the certification will reflect highly on the nurse and that would = $. Our facility offers education reimbursements and we are trying to think of a way to get $ for reimbursement of certification fees/expencses. As a pediatric facility, the PNCB acknowledges facilities with a certain number of certified nurses. I would love to see on unit challenge another unit with a higher percentages of certified nurse...but for most of the staff at my hospital there driving force is $$$ and both an incentive and prohibitive factor for not being certified. Sad but true.