Pain Management Certification?

Specialties Pain

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Onc, LTAC.

Hi everyone,

I've been interested in getting a certification in Pain Management, and I've read through a lot of the material on the ANCC website, the American Society for Pain Management Nursing and this website, and I figure some of you must be certified and would answer my questions :)

I am an RN with 5 years experience, mostly LTAC/Rehab/Subacute/Telemetry- I deal with patients with pain from surgeries, amputations, wounds, chest pain, fractures, rehab etc. Pain management is a huge part of my daily assessments and treatments for my patients. It seems like many here who are certified from reading posts are actually Pain Management Nurses and work in Pain Clinics. Do you think I am qualified? I deal with many narcotics, have dealt with pumps, patches etc for managing pain for my patients. I just wonder if I'd be over my head!

I had a very hard time figuring out some of the stuff on the websites regarding CEU's for qualification. I read that you need 30 CEU's in the pain management specialty on ANCC and the American Society for Pain Management said something about 30 CEU's but 15 in pain management specifically.

THEN... a CEU is 10 contact hours? Many $20+ online courses for hours are like 2-3 contact hours... How on earth do you end up eventually getting 30 (or 15) CEU's that way? I tried navigating the online site for online seminars for CEU's and I wasn't really able to find something. I found one site that was possible, but they called their classes something completely different than CEU or contact hour.

Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!

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Specializes in Non-Oncology Infusion currently.

I recently became certified in this area. There are a lot of free CEU's on line....I used places like Gannett Education online, Medscape LLC, and Nursing Spectrum Continuing Ed. Looking at my application to take the exam, some of the course titles I have in my records are: Knocking Out Pain Safely with PCA, Recognizing Drug Seeking Behavior, Identifying Pain in the Hospice Patient, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Type !,Common Fallacies About Cancer Pain. You can also use conferences you have attended if they apply.

Check out the references for the test and order some of the texts to study from. I studied on my own, looking at all the specific test content/objectives......I gathered this information. There are some good practice tests on the ASPMN site when you are nearly ready to take the exam. Give yourself a good 4-6 months to study the material and work on the practice tests. There is a LOT of information to cover but it is fun to learn about it!

Good luck!!!!:yeah:

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Onc, LTAC.

Was your 30 "continuing education hours" 30 contact hours or 30 CEU's?

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