Survey: Are you certified in your nursing specialty?

[Brian]

Here are the results of last months survey question

Are you certified in your nursing specialty? :

Please feel free to read and post any comments that you have right here in this discussion thread by clicking the "Post Reply" button.

Thanks

[lever5]

I have a CCRN for 3 years, up for renewal soon. As a traveler I have had a lot of negative feedback, I no longer tell anyone that I am certified. In one hospital, comments were made on how they had seen a lot of CCRN's that did not know anything. I am privately proud of my accomplishment, but some of those that do not have it are mean.

[KMSRN]

Have been oncology certified, OCN - Oncology Certified Nurse, since 1999 and soon to be certified in palliative care, CHPN - Certified Hopsice and Palliative Nurse. The oncology certification test is quite difficult, so anyone planning to take this test should spend some time with the Core Curriculum and other study guides. Certification can be maintained with ceu's.

Certification, like any other educational/professional achievement is something to be proud of - and there will always be those who are threatened.

[Mariah]

I have been certified in nursing informatics for about 6 years now. Any others out there?

[Squirrel]

CNSN: Certified Nutrition Support Nurse

[J_W, DNP, APRN, CNS]

I am CCRN in Adult Critical Care and have my CCNS in Adult Acute and Critical Care.

[Heather56]

Mariah

how did you become certified in nursing informatics?

I have a BSc in Health Information Science but have had a hard time finding informatics programs in Canada for Nurses.

[wrightgd]

COHN-S: Certified Occupational Health Nurse Specialist

[NurseKimberley]

does anyone know how an LPN can get gerontology cert.? and also mariah, what does it take to get anywhere in informatics? i know right now i'm "just an lpn (lolol lpn's)" but i'm interested in informatics and was wondering what i'd have to do...

[Mariah]

One gets certified in nursing informatics via ANCC which is accessible via http://www.nursingworld.org/ancc/

From the ANCC catalog:

At the time of application, the candidate must:

1. Hold a baccalaureate or higher degree in nursing or a baccalaureate degree in a relevant field. Relevant areas include: science, (biology, anatomy, physiology, etc.), professional disciplines (engineering, computer science, psychology, physical

therapy, etc.), or academic liberal arts, (mathematics, english, philosophy, history, etc.);

2. Hold a currently active registered nurse license in the United States or its territories;

3. Have practice as a licensed registered nurse for a minimum of 2 years;

4. Have practiced at least 2,000 hours in the field of informatics nursing within the last 3 years;

-OR-

a. Have completed at least 12 semester hours of academic credits in a gradu-ate program in informatics nursing in informatics courses (e.g., computer pro-gramming, information science, systems analysis and design, management of infor-mation

systems) and have practiced a minimum of 1,000 hours in informatics nursing within the last 3 years;

-OR-

b. Have completed a graduate program in Nursing Informatics that includes at least 200 hours of clinical practicum. NOTE: for candidates who meet this requirement, please disregard item #5 pertaining to having 30 contact hours of continuing education.

-AND-

5. Have had 30 contact hours of continuing education applicable to the specialty area within the last 3 years. Author/presenter credits are allowable but can account for no more than half of the contact hour requirement. Author's work must be in a refereed publication. A combination of continuing education and academic credit hours are also acceptable. Contact hour credit will be allowed for attendance at professional meetings that include content appropriate to informatics nursing practice. Independent study that has been approved for continuing education or academic credit is also allowed.

To find out more about nursing informatics, some good sources are:

http://www.nursing-informatics.net/

http://informatics.nurses.nu/

http://nursing.umaryland.edu/~snewbold/

http://www.amia-niwg.org/ (includes a list of schools)

To get into informatics, two ways - either education or

get a job related to informatics such as training users at your hospital about the computer, etc. If you start with education, then get the job. If you start with the job, then you probably need the education. Education is becoming more and more important. I started with the education and then got the job. But everyone's story is different.

[MQ Edna]

Sure am! CCRN and CCNS

[judy ann]

Yes, I've been certified in Inpatient Obstetrics since 1986, and in Fetal Monitoring since 1997. This gives one an RNC. Unfortunately, my employers neither paid anything for me to take the exam or to keep it up. They didn't pay a bonus for my having the certification. Why did I do all this work and spend all this money? Self Esteem, and worth every second and every penny.

[clatrn]

Yes I am certified in PeriAnesthesia Nursing (CPAN) and plan to test for CAPA (Certified Ambulatory PeriAnesthesia Nurse) soon. The hospital where I work gives a bonus and a raise for certification. A group of nurses at work formed a study group and then took the test together. We all learned a lot in our study group and it was great when we all passed! I am proud to be certified.