Certifications

I'm looking to be TNCC and CEN certified. Why do these certs have to be so freaking expensive? Lol

Most certifications require 1-2 years in your specialty area. What area of nursing do you work in?

I understand getting ACLS. But why would you get certifications if they don't pertain to your work? If you are just trying to get certifications to look more appealing to hiring managers, have a cert in orthopedics but get a job in hem/onc, how does that help? If you work on a specific floor, the hospital should pay for that certification.

It helps indirectly. The majority of adult oncology patients have orthopedic problems.

Thank you. I guess I was thinking peds hem/onc. I had it typed but then completely retyped what I had. But I'm sure regardless they would both have ortho issues.

I have spent the money on ACLS but would never go out of my way for an expensive speciality certifications.

NIH stroke scale certification takes some time to complete all the modules, but it is FREE and looks good on a resume. I have even seen job postings that ask for it.

NIH Stroke Scale | Stroke.org

The orthopedic nurse certification (ONC) seems to have very liberal, loose requirements regarding who is eligible to apply, so this one is a possibility.

This is not true. You have to prove that you have 1000 hours in ortho. Test is $350 not "loose" or "liberal". Many of the people I work with did not pass the first time. You have to know joints, spine, peds, trauma, oncology, congenital, metabolic, degenerative, OR, and medications (pain and comorbid conditions) as well as treatment, prosthetic, joint replacement hardware, AND applications.

I have my PCCN and I'm going to be trying for the Cardiac Medicine Certification soon.

Am I the only one thinking that if a specialty certification is easy to come by, costs little or nothing, requires no experience.....it's also not worth much of anything either?

Am I the only one thinking that if a specialty certification is easy to come by, costs little or nothing, requires no experience.....it's also not worth much of anything either?

Even though the NIHSS certification is free it was very informational and I learned a lot from taking the course and have used the information I learned in my ER career. The previous poster was correct. A lot of jobs that I have looked at require for ER nurses to have the NIHSS certification.

Now I don't think all certifications should be free or necessarily easy to obtain. They could be priced more reasonably though.