Nursing certifications going away??

[Jvgrek0126]

I was looking up different certifications you can get as an RN to do research for the future (I'm about to graduate, with my BSN), and more than half of them were listed as renewal only! Are all these specialty certs getting taken away or just revised? Anyone know what's up with that?

[Jvgrek0126]

Yea seems like a mixed bag of experiences

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

I just re-upped one of my three certs, and another comes due in January and I am seriously debating letting it go as I am no longer in clinical practice. It's my Peds CCRN- the one of which I am most proud and which I truly worked the hardest for. I dunno....

[RNNPICU, BSN, RN]

I had to let go of my CNRN (Certified Neuro RN). That exam was really hard. I just didn't have the CEs. I could have, but I don't really practice directly in that field right now. I may have been able to stretch it since I came in contact with neuro patients, but I couldn't I felt it was too much of a stretch. I have a Peds RN, the CPN.

[MelEpiRN]

Not all hospitals dole out extra money for certification and sometimes it's only for specific ones. I wouldn't discourage anybody from getting one, but don't assume it's a given. My CNO had to fight with corporate to approve the incentive at the last 2 facilities I worked at.

[Mrs.D., BSN]

Just for a little extra info regarding what is out there...

It looks like my hospital will 1) reimburse the cost of the initial and recertification exams, and 2) reimburse up to $250 per year for maintaining the cert. Must be approved ahead of time by boss and r/t area of practice.

However, I have not found anywhere that states it's financially beneficial with regards to weekly/hourly/monthly compensation.

But that's still cool to know. I love learning and would probably try it down the line...

[HomeBound]

My ANCC cert (amb care) appears to still be offered, but honestly I'm not planning to renew it when it's up next year. Work paid for the first one, but I've never seen a benefit for having it except for the RN-BC status. Plus it's super expensive to renew and I doubt I'll be in ambulatory care again any time soon. At least I hope not. I am sure the benefit is still there for some of the certs!

Bingo. Everybody jumped on the bandwagon to monetize breathing while nurse. It makes zero difference to some as the certs are not compensated. Others, they may get the $.05 raise, just enough for a cup of coffee at christmas.

Does this mean i am a super nurse bc i have CCRN? Nope. It means i am a good test taker. Example being...everybody with an RN after their name graduated nursing school. Are they ALL good nurses? Even adequate ones? Certification madness came about to see how many of us would jump through the expensive hoops to one up the others competing for ghe same job, then it was making the dept look good that they can brag thatball of their nurses are xyz certified. Means nothing. What it does mean is you are making less per hour because of that certification. You pay the renewal fee plus your ceu's plus your licensing renewal for nursing. You literally chop $$$$$ off your hourly income to prove to no one that uou have a piece of paper that means nothing.

Passing CEN gave me nothing. Just $350 for the exam out of my pocket, the renewals (which i will not do again), no hourly boost in pay and means nothing when i try to transfer into a diffeent unit.

[DowntheRiver]

My company pays for the certification and for you to re-take if you need to take it again (OCN). They accept other certifications if it pertains to your area. You receive a one time bonus of $1,000 before taxes and then every time you re-up they pay for the certification and another $1,000. You can only get a certification every 3 years but OCN is every 5, I believe. I'm in the middle of studying for it now.

My company does not pay more for BSN or MSN even though BSN is required of all new grads. You can still get in PT/FT with an ASN + at least 2 years experience. If so, you must sign a contract saying you will obtain your BSN within 3 years. PRN staff is not required to obtain BSN. However, the company does pay for the RN to BSN program and I did take advantage of that. They are partially paying for my MSN.

ETA: At my old facility you received .50/hour more for BSN and nothing extra for MSN. When I worked for the state they didn't care about BSN as much and you definitely did not get paid more to have it.

[featherzRN, MSN]

I have certs that DO matter for my job - I work as a clinical documentation specialist and have two certs for that as well as a coding cert. Those I will keep for now. But certs I no longer use? Nah. Plus the ambulatory care isn't as prestigious as the CCRN, in my opinion. No one seemed to give two hoots about it when I was job hunting.

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

There's no shortage of nursing certifications and there is one for practically every specialty you can think of. ANCC offers certification, but so do may other organizations, such as the Academy of Med Surg Nurses (AMSN) and Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing (WOCN).

Obtaining a certification for the sole reason of making more money can be disappointing, depending on how the organization recognizes it financially. Obtaining a certification to show expertise in your specialty and for professional development is very rewarding.

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

"Everybody jumped on the bandwagon to monetize breathing while nurse."

If you put this on a T-shirt I would surely buy one.

[llg, PhD, RN]

My hospital pays both the cost of the initial certification and for renewals. Being certified also counts towards our clinical ladder program that pays a couple thousand per year for nurses who meet the qualifications to advance up the ladder.