Nursing Certs for New Grads

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jul 11, 2014

You only qualify for ACLS and/or PALS; the certifications that will aide in finding better jobs require experience in the field in which you are seeking to become certfied. As an example, to sit for the certification exam for gastroenterology nurses, one must have worked in the field for two years.....med/surg, if I recall correctly, was three years full-time before being eligible to take the exam. Might have changed in detail, but you get the idea.

Certifications are used to recognize those with expertise in their fields....not for the brand-new grad.

Do you have ACLS?

mo16 · Jul 11, 2014

You can also do the NIH Stroke Scale certification online and its free!:)

jessica8302 · Jul 11, 2014

Oh wow awesome! I love free haha. Thanks so much!!

rnBSN223 · Jul 11, 2014

I took ACLS my last semester of nursing school and that helped greatly in both of my job positions. I learned a TON and feel much more comfortable in telemetry! Its definitely worth the money!

jessica8302 · Jul 11, 2014

Definitely going to check into that. I would love to work telemetry so that's perfect. Even better that I don't need experience. Thinking of doing an ECG class too.

vnguyen3 · Jul 11, 2014

You can definitely do an EKG class!! It's worth it if you're planning on working for a Monitor unit.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jul 12, 2014

Definitely going to check into that. I would love to work telemetry so that's perfect. Even better that I don't need experience. Thinking of doing an ECG class too.

A good, complete ACLS course will cover reading strips, rhythms (after all, need to know what med goes with what rhythm!). I believe that's a good bet for you.

L&DinOregon · Jul 13, 2014

NRP and S.T.A.B.L.E certification, and AWHONN has fetal monitoring course you can take. These are more for L&D or NICU though so depends where your interest/ job search is focused.