Shibboleth

Hi, Certainly.... what type of further info are you interested in?

ANCC's Core CNS Competency Exam, which has also been referred to as a generalist exam, is not doing very well. Word is that almost no one is taking it, probably less than 50 people so far. After years of effort (and thousands of $) in developing it, ANCC is beginning to panic. In the old days of nursing, the American Nurses Association was a monopoly and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) was also a monopoly more or less (they still have monopolies in some areas). Last year ANCC forced out director of certification, Mary Smolenski, FNP. This year they replaced her with a gentleman named Ron Hanchar. Although not a nurse, he does have experience in the certification and accreditation fields; he worked for the Project Management Institute in the past. However apparently not enough to save this troubled exam, thus far. One possibility regarding the problem ANCC is having is that they are at that state of organizational development when they are more concerned with internal political matters than external issues like customer service. Imagine this: within the space of not much more than a year they lost nearly all their top program directors, includinng: business directors assistant business director Director of Magnet Director of Certification Director of Pathways to Excellence Director of the Institute for Credentialing Innovation (Hint: there aren't too many other director slots other than those). The question I have for executive director Jeanne Floyd is "Did you listen to the counsel of someone who maybe you shouldn't have?" "If not, how do you account for such dramatic turnover?" Some of these were pushed out. Others may have had trouble handling the ANA/ANCC culture. Some had been at ANCC for years, and others lasted only for months. Over at parent organization ANA President Linda Steirle announced her own resignation, but gave herself a nice going away party. The question that some people wondered was whether her resignation was due to the growing numbers of state nursing associations that have been disafilliating from the ANA, among other problems.

ANCC is definitely a "Business". Take a look at their annual report to see how much cash they bring in. But they are probably the only nurse certification body that is used as a cash cow by another organization (the ANA), so that can give you an idea of why the exams are so expensive.