New Ortho RN-Ortho Cert??

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Hi all! I am a new grad nurse and I am just starting out on an ortho/uro/rehab unit. I am part of a nurse residency program so I get a little bit of extra training and I'm super excited to start! I have always been really interested in ortho but I haven't done much research in specializing in it. I keep seeing people talk about getting an ortho certification. Can anyone tell me more about it? What are the benefits of doing that? Thanks!

I think I eventually want to do pediatric ortho but for now my patient population will be mainly adult/geriatric. Our unit does a lot of TKA, AKA, TSA, etc. But we also have an inpatient/outpatient rehab center located on our unit that also includes people recovering from strokes, bone marrow transplants, and other organ transplants. Pretty versatile but my main interest is ortho!

I'd appreciate more info on the ortho certification!

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Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

You can get information from ONCB or NAON about cert. You have to be a nurse for 2 years and have the equivalent of 1000 hours in ortho nursing (which I think works out to about 6 months of FT work)

I just got my certification in June. You have to know about a lot of things: peds, OR, procedures, congenital, spine, meds, etc. It's daunting but after you have worked for a while, it is less intimidating. Good Luck!!! I love ortho nursing

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Yes you do have to be an RN for 2 years and Have a minimum of 1,000 hours of work experience as an RN in orthopaedic nursing practice within the past three years.

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