Nutrition certification/education for nurses

HealthyNurse · Jan 7, 2013

Elfer- I've been researching this extensively recently. There are a lot of different options depending on what kind of nutrition education you are looking for. If you want a clinically focused certification, there is the prestigious certified clinical nutritionist (CCN) certification. There are some requirements as far as what type of degree you have to have and there are required courses if you don't meet the course requirements. If you have to go through all of the courses, it will cost you over $4000. However, my understanding is that it is a well-respected credential within the health care community- open to doctors, nurses, dietitians, and pharmacists. If you want more of a holistic nutrition education, the Nutritional Therapy Association and Bauman College offer some certification programs that are well-respected within the HOLISTIC community (not necessarily within health care in general). If you learn of any others, please let me know. Also, I would love to network with you about how you plan to use your nutrition education. I will PM you.

nolegirl96 · Jan 29, 2013

Elfer- I've been researching this extensively recently. There are a lot of different options depending on what kind of nutrition education you are looking for. If you want a clinically focused certification there is the prestigious certified clinical nutritionist (CCN) certification. There are some requirements as far as what type of degree you have to have and there are required courses if you don't meet the course requirements. If you have to go through all of the courses, it will cost you over $4000. However, my understanding is that it is a well-respected credential within the health care community- open to doctors, nurses, dietitians, and pharmacists. If you want more of a holistic nutrition education, the Nutritional Therapy Association and Bauman College offer some certification programs that are well-respected within the HOLISTIC community (not necessarily within health care in general). If you learn of any others, please let me know. Also, I would love to network with you about how you plan to use your nutrition education. I will PM you.[/quote']
I am so glad I stumbled onto these posts! I am an RN with a B.S. in Child Development and an Associates in Nursing. I have been very interested in nutrition for a long time and thought the only route would be going back to school for another Bachelors degree in nutrition to become an RD. There are no schools near me that offer this type of degree therefore I would have to move or try to find an online program. After reading about the CCN certification, it may be my answer! I would love to do research. Thank you so much!

vanurse1022, BSN · Oct 31, 2013

Healthynurse, that's the best I could find too; I've been doing a lot of research lately! There are a few other certs out there but not nearly as respected. I'm an RN now, and have been for the past 7 years or so. I'm very much interested in getting more into nutrition. I've completed certificates through eCornell in plant based nutrition, and have become a certified health coach. I would love to get more nutrition knowledge in though! Not sure I'm ready to commit to a whole other bachelor's at this point. I'll be sure to check out the CCN in more detail!

MountainNurseTammy, BSN, RN · Oct 31, 2013

healthy nurse - I would love to know how you are utilizing your certificate in plant based nutrition. I also have that and am graduating as an RN in May. I really want to be a health coach and am wondering how to make that happen! Any advice?

vanurse1022, BSN · Nov 1, 2013

Do you mean me? :) Currently I'm just working as a travel nurse (I'm traveling with my husband visiting cities we're thinking of moving to). Once we settle down somewhere I hope to establish a client base so I can coach individuals in an office setting. For now, I just have a website and have coached a couple people via email/phone. I'm looking for more programs/certificates/classes on nutrition to build a more general knowledge base.

As far as coaching goes, I used the National Society of Health Coaches mainly because they're nationally recognized (credibility is a big concern for me), I heard good things about the program, and it was all online/self paced. Honestly, I wasn't super impressed with it; it involved a binder of notes and CD with review questions, etc. You have a year to take the certification quiz (which I thought was super easy) and that's it. The "members only" section on their website is non-existant. I haven't seen it updated once in the last couple years. No job postings, new resources, etc. So it was mildly disappointing, but I'm not sure of better programs out there. I heard that Integrative Nutrition was pretty good; their coaching is combined with nutrition courses. I was turned off by the commerciality of it (free iPads with signup, etc.).

I would just do some research on various programs and see what works best for you. I'd love to hear what you come up with! If you have any other questions just let me know! :)

MountainNurseTammy, BSN, RN · Nov 3, 2013

Thank you so much! Yes, I have heard a lot of good and bad about Integrative Nutrition... I'm not suer what to think about it. Its good to connect with others who have similar interests as we all figure this out! :)

vanurse1022, BSN · Nov 14, 2013

The Wellness Forum Institute offers a Nutrition Educator diploma that focuses on plant-based nutrition, but also includes other lifestyles in comparison. While costly, it looks like an awesome program!

Wellness Forum Institute for Health Studies - Course and Program Information

pinknurse09 · Jan 8, 2014

@ vanurse1022: The company I am working for has enrolled me in the National Society of Health Coaches program but they have only given me 90 days to complete and test for the certification. Please tell me this is possible!

vanurse1022, BSN · Jan 8, 2014

Absolutely! I actually waited around for a while before completing mine; probably finished in about 2-3 months. Just read a little bit every day and start doing the practice tests online. You can totally do it!! :)

pinknurse09 · Feb 6, 2014

Thank you for responding, vanurse1022! Can you tell me anything about the test itself? How long did it take you to complete? The practice test looks like 100% motivational interviewing. Is the real exam similar? I just haven't talked to anyone who has taken it and I would like to know somewhat what to expect. Yikes---getting nervous!

vanurse1022, BSN · Feb 7, 2014

From what I remember, you have a video scenario, then answer questions regarding each video. Honestly, I breezed through it! Maybe took 30 minutes. The questions are very similar to the practice ones, so if you do ok with those, you won't have a problem :)