Med/Surg ANCC Cert.

Published

Question-

I've been a nurse for a little over a year now full time and have well over 2000 hours under my belt because i've picked up a lot of OT. I'm looking to take the med/surg cert. Is it *really* mandatory that you must have 2 years experience? I have had couple of nurses say it's not and say they've taken it with less than 2 years experience. I wanted to see what everyone else's experience with this was.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in CMSRN.

You could always try contacting the certification organizations, the MSNCB and the ANCC, to see if they would make an exception but it is my understanding that the 2 years is mandatory.

The eligibility criteria are listed for the MSNCB as:

•RN with a current US license

•and practiced 2 years as an RN in a medical-surgical setting

•and accrued 2,000 hours of practice within past 3 years

The bolding on the "and" is from their website, not my emphasis.

The eligibility criteria are listed for the ANCC as:

•Hold a current, active RN license within a state or territory of the United States or the professional, legally recognized equivalent in another country

•Have practiced the equivalent of 2 years full-time as a registered nurse.

•Have a minimum of 2,000 hours of clinical practice in the specialty area of medical-surgical nursing within the last 3 years.

•Have completed 30 hours of continuing education in medical-surgical nursing within the last 3 years.

It doesn't hurt to ask but I am not aware of anyone that's sat for the exam with less than 2 years of experience. Good luck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

I haven't seen less than 2 years either.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion