Mandating CRRN Certification

What's the deadline for becoming certified? I'm surprised that they're not 'grandfathering' the more experienced nurses. (At my last job prior to becoming a nurse, I think they worked it out pretty good. They gave us 18 months to become certified in phlebotomy, but they exempted anyone who had been there longer than five years.)

Do all of the nurses even qualify to take the CRRN exam? I'm not a rehab nurse, but I looked into taking the certification exam for elective credit in my BSN program. If I remember correctly, you need two years experience as a rehab RN.

Eric is right about the qualifications to take the CRRN---you have to have worked in rehab for 2 yrs to qualify. Are they paying for the certification? It's almost $300 to take the exam. Are they providing exam prep classes? It's NOT an easy exam. If not, then they can require it all they want to, but very few are gonna pass it. If nurses are really interested in rehab and administration is paying for it, then I'm not sure why the nurses would object, unless it's just the fact that they are being told they "have to do it." If you switch jobs, it can be a feather in your resume to have the certification. Best of luck.

The crrn exam is hard! I studied for months and passed, but I didn't feel very confident about it. Your manager is probably seeking CARF accredidation which requires a minimum percentage of certified nurses. Your unit can grow and improve by having this, but I don't think your manager will be able to get enough CRRNs to be more than 50%.

We just went through CARF accreditation and they don't require nurses to be CRRN certified. They encourage it, because it shows that your nurses have expert knowledge to care for patients with rehabilitation needs. With all the payment issues now, CMS is requiring that units that accept Medicare patients have care from "nurses with rehabilitation knowledge." That is a written requirement. Having nurses who are certified is one way to meet this requirement. Yes, it may be a publicity issue, but ultimately, the payors are now looking at rehab nursing knowledge and experience too.

We were just recertified from CARF in Sept. and it is not a requirement yet it is strongly suggested. I manage a 15 bed AIP unit and I am the only CRRN. Our Physiatrist is pushing the rest of the staff to get cert. but not requiring it.

Does anyone know of an online prep. course available for preparing for the test? I studied for 6 months, and it was by far the hardest test I ever took including nursing school and state boards.

I'm bumping this thread because I am really curious as to what is happening in the CRRN world these days. I'm certified since 1991 and just renewed. I work as a consultant so I don't have contact with other rehab nurses.

None of my friends who I initially got certified with are still maintaining their cert. My old unit (which did require CRRN) is long defunct. My gut tells me the #s are probably falling. The latest certification guide made it clear that "rehab" is defined so broadly now that anyone who is an RN could essentially qualify. That test though? Still the hardest one I've ever taken.