Certification?

[ammberlea]

Good morning -

I know that in some states, school nurses are required to be certified. Mine does not require it, but I am considering taking the test. I have just sent my information to join the NASN, so have not gotten my membership info back yet. To those of you who are certified, what was involved? Would you recommend certification to school nurses who are not required to be certified?

Thank you -

Amber

[bergren]

I am certified. So obviously, I am biased and felt the fee and the time and trouble was worth it. When I took the test, the state I was working in had a state certification, which I had, and I still felt the NBCSN certification was worth the investment. I did prepare - studying questions, did some reading in areas that I had little personal experience in. I did purchase a prep "course" but actually never really spent much time with it. It was put out by Mary Kornbluth (I think I spelled her name right). I have heard that some states offer prep courses, and there is a prep course at the NASN annual conference the day before the certification exam is administered. This year the conference is in Cincinnati in June.

I think in school nursing, where our bosses frequently are not nurses, and have little or no idea what makes one competent, certification is a way to validate that you have the knowledge and foundation to perform the job.