Certifications

[FloatRN19]

So besides the obvious BLS,ACLS,PALS, CCRN, etc what other kind of certifications do you have? Anything that doesn't take a lot of money or time to obtain, would be great, but anything would be appreciated. Basically just looking for stuff to make myself more marketable as well as expand my knowledge base.

[OCNRN63, RN]

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

But if you're working in an ortho floor, the OCN doesn't really pertain to orthopedic nursing. Plus, it could very well be confused as a certification in orthopedic nursing, since the letters of the cert are so similar.

Not to mention, the OCN requires clinical time and CEs in oncology, not ortho.

When I read posts asking for the quickest, cheapest way to get certs, I just think "Grrr..." Anything worth having is going to require effort and perhaps $$$.

[OCNRN63, RN]

Did you check out the certifications for LPN/LVN at NAPNES?

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

As an ortho nurse, we have surgical ortho oncology pts that have come for tumor excisions and pain management, but, if they get to the point that the next step is chemo they are transferred to the oncology floor.

[~PedsRN~, BSN, RN]

I am CPN certified (Certified Pediatric Nurse) - it is a quite pricey endeavor, but my place of work pays for your initial certifications, even if you fail multiple times. I had nothing to lose in being certified!

[Oceanpacific]

I think it is more impressive to be focused on a single specialty or a couple of closely related specialties. Otherwise, it starts to look like alphabet soup. Find out if your employer reimburses for certification or gives a financial incentive for being certified. My current employer offers $1500 to nurses who obtain certification is their area of practice.

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

"The hospital should pay for certification?" Haha, my hospital won't pay for anything, not even tuition reimbursement. Actually, no hospital I have ever worked at paid for any certification other than ACLS or PALS, then I had to pay and wait to be reimbursed. Those days are long gone for most of us.

[NGYSUN, BSN, MSN, RN]

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.

How long is the NIHSS certification duration, in years before renewal?

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

But if you're working in an ortho floor, the OCN doesn't really pertain to orthopedic nursing. Plus, it could very well be confused as a certification in orthopedic nursing, since the letters of the cert are so similar.

Not to mention, the OCN requires clinical time and CEs in oncology, not ortho.

When I read posts asking for the quickest, cheapest way to get certs, I just think "Grrr..." Anything worth having is going to require effort and perhaps $$$.

In my previous post I referred to the orthopedic nurse certification (ONC), not the oncology certification (OCN). Perhaps you got the two certs confused?

[FloatRN19]

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

Well I guess float RN could be rather non-descript.

I work in a level 1 trauma center and float between a cardiac icu, cardiac progressive, step down, icu, trauma floor, ortho floor and med/onc unit. The locked units rarely mainly because they're locked and I have to spend like a month orienting on them to be able to float there.

Anything like the stroke one is great since I cover the whole gambit.

[f1j1nurse]

I have the SANE-A and SANE-P (sexual assault nurse examiner - adults and peds), currently studying for my CIC (certification in infection control)

[OCNRN63, RN]

In my previous post I referred to the orthopedic nurse certification (ONC), not the oncology certification (OCN). Perhaps you got the two certs confused?

I wasn't confused. I was responding to your comment about using orthopedic certification with oncology patients. (Post #5)

[Dogen]

How long is the NIHSS certification duration, in years before renewal?

Two years, technically. I'm a big fan of NIHSS, because so many things are risk factors for stroke, so you end up seeing it done all over the place (cardiac/PCU, surg, neuro, ICU, etc). Plus, the scale itself is evidence-based as a predictor of short and long-term outcomes. So, it's a handy thing to know how to administer regardless of where you work, IMHO.

Except peds, I guess. I don't know anything about kids, and I don't want to know anything about kids. If I had my way I'd wrap them all in a giant Tegaderm so they couldn't make everything sticky or drip snot anywhere.