AANP ENP CERT

[synaptic]

So I went on the AANP website and it looks like they are going to start offering an ENP certification. For a minute I was like cool, maybe that will help FNPs secure jobs in the ER, so it may have some use. But I quickly came to my senses and remembered that our credentialing bodies are greedy, mildness, unscientific fools that will do anything to make a buck off of us already practicing nurse practitioners. So I delved into the story deeper… and found this..

Q: What are the eligibility requirements to take the ENP examination?

A: Eligibility is based on the candidate meeting the following requirements:

Current, active Registered Nurse license in the U.S., U.S. territories, or Canadian province or territory.

Current national certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner

Emergency care specialty content that includes at least one of the following:

A minimum of 2,000 direct, emergency care practice hours in the past five (5) years and evidence of 100 hours of continuing emergency care education with a minimum of 30 of those hours in emergency care procedural skills within those 5 years; or

Completion of an academic emergency care graduate or post-graduate NP program; or

Completion of an approved emergency fellowship program

After reading that you already need ER experience (I work in the ER) I concluded this was just another worthless credential for those Campbell alphabet collecting Nurse-soup drinkers to place on their white coat.

I highly doubt that the huge national ER group that I work for gives a flying cupcake that I have an ENP certification, especially since you are required to have like 2000 hours of ER experience, which most employers consider enough probably. So why the hell should be pay 300 bucks to sit through an exam on stuff we should already know. Sounds like a money gab scheme.

I guess I should know better though, since these are the cred agencies that oversight the pathetic education that is called an msn-fnp degree. No wonder nobody takes nurses seriously, except other nurses.

Please enlighten me on your thoughts.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

lol - you have hit the nail on the head!

[pro-student]

That's an awfully narrow-minded view. The point of a certification like the ENP is to validate the level of knowledge/achievement as an emergency provider. I get that you don't want it but that's hardly an indictment of the whole process. Let's take your logic and apply it to a much more common scenario:

J. Doe completes her/his RN education, is licensed, and lands a dream job in an ICU. She/he works for several years, gains experience, knowledge, and skills specific to CC. When eligible, J. Doe decides to become a CCRN acing the exam earning a recognizable credential that demonstrates to employers, peers, etc... that she/he is commented to the specialty and was independently evaluated in the specific specialty of CC nursing.

Now, you'd say that's worthless. J.Doe has experience and doesn't "need" the CCRN credential. In fact, the non-profit that administers the exam is just out for all the J. Doe's money. Meanwhile, J. Doe is likely to be financially rewarded by her/his employer and is much more marketable should she/he ever decide to change employers even across the country.

Look, J. Doe, nor anyone else, absolutely needs the CCRN, ENP, or many other credentials. But they serve to objectively validate knowledge in an area most RNs, FNPs, etc... don't have.

People have been in search for a ENP credential for a long time particularly since this relative common area of practice is extremely ambiguous. The ANCCs credential is far from perfect but it's a step in the right direction. The FNP is a primary care role under the consensus model and there's a lot a typical FNP program will not prepare one for in terms of emergency practice. Especially at a time when organizations, leaders, policies, and laws are trending towards holding APNs closer to their certified area of practice, a way to objective demonstrate competence is a good thing.