Specialty Nursing Certification in Today's Environment

[mwboswell]

The Economy and Specialty (CEN) Certification...?

So I was sitting down tonight watching President Obama's first press conference (8:00 pm EST ????)....Anyways, as he was explaining his take on the pulse of our current economy and how he has seen "first hand" the effects of it on places like Elkhart IN that saw it's jobless rate nearly triple in the last 3 months, and how people are out of work and loosing jobs; I was considering what relevance this state of affairs has to achieving specialty board certification for nurses.

Mr. Obama was explaining his take on principles of economy that decreased consumer credit causes people to spend less, companies to produce less and companies to have to reduce their costs on such things as payrolls and numbers of employees. He went on to talk some about the hardships faced by "Main st" while on the unemployment dole and I got to thinking about nurses...Specifically my brethren Emergency Nurses.

Through many online and in person conversations, one of the recurring themes as to why more ER nurses don't pursue specialty certification (CEN) is their "lack of interest or motivation". Some people I've talked to have even said the extraordinary lengths their employers will go through to support and encourage certifications. At some facilities, the nurses actually risk NOTHING at all due to employer compensations - and they (the nurses) still aren't motivated to pursue certification.

Although we hear about a nursing shortage (and I'm not here to tell you there isn't one) we know that in hospitals, the payroll is THE SINGLE LARGEST line item and it is a direct reflection of the current numbers on the employee payroll. So if a company is going to start "downsizing" to control it's costs, don't you think the choice of who stays and who goes will factor in things like credentials or qualifications.

Like myself, ALL RN's came on board with only a generic entry-level license (AKA right to practice) in a general setting. No RN comes out of nursing school with a competency or credential to practice ER nursing. It is through the on-the-job-training, experience, mentoring and good 'ole 'elbow grease' that many RNs working in an ER setting claim the title "Emergency Nurse".

Until those same nurses acquire a professionally recognized and verifiable credential as the CEN (Certified Emergency Nurse), they technically remain just a generalist in nature.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are THOUSANDS of RNs working in our nation's ERs who probably have the experience and knowledge commensurate with that of the CEN credential, however, they have not been recognized in that manner...yet.

Once the ER RN decides to prepare for and sit for the CEN exam, and then PASS it - then they can truly call themselves an "Emergency Nurse".

In today's health care arena we are already seeing a shift in our Emergency Medicine Doctors in that more and more hospitals and practice groups are mandating Board Certification in Emergency Medicine. The days are slipping by where once a Family Practice trained MD could take a job in an ER and practice as an "Emergency Physician". The credentialing, accrediting and regulatory groups are more and more looking to set the bar "higher" for the attainment of an elevated, verified skill, knowledge and practice level. And like the RN's -this does NOT mean that there aren't some FP's out there that are not EM boarded, practicing at an equivalent high level as their boarded peers; on the contrary, there are assuredly MANY who are.

But as we see this push and shift from non EM boarded MD's to EM boarded one's, undoubtedly natural progression will dictate at some point that it is desirable for the RNs as well as it denotes a verified specialty locus of practice.

So as we see our nation's economy stumbling, the workforce dwindling and health care crumbling, it becomes more concerning for the Emergency RN who wants to secure their place in teh workforce to attain certification in their speciality.

Some call it pride,

Others call it professionalism,

Others still call it accountability,

I say it is more and more likely that someday not too far off, it will be mandatory....